This is a LIVING article, updated constantly!
While we journey through life with our neurobiological differences, we experience and observe –
thus we learn and grow, therefor this article is LIVING and always adapting to our new understanding.
Experts/Books/Organisations in general are hyperlinked. If you click on the underlined words
it should take you to the website/social media platform of the named resource/reference.
We are all NeuroUnique and on the HumanSpectrum!
Yes, we are!
In his book, NeuroTribes, Steve Silberman accredited coining the term neurodiversity to the Australian sociologist Judy Singer, who is autistic. In the late 1990s, in an attempt to break away from the stigma that autism held at the time, Singer used the term neurodiversity in a research paper. However, neurodiversity goes further back than that! You can deep dive into that if you want to.
More than that, the world is at war about the term and movement: Neurodiversity!
They fight about the meaning of the terminology, what it includes and what not. They fight about what may or may not be the cause of it and whether it is curable or not. They fight about who is guilty of creating the causes. They fight about who knows better than who about it all. They even fight about the word as a movement. Yes, NeuroDiversity is also a woke identity movement.
But Parenting from Pluto (PfP) viewpoint is that, firstly, it is a word that uniquely describes the different neurological diverse conditions:
Though neurodiversity also serves as an umbrella term to include the many different neurobiological differences, Parenting from Pluto (PfP) made a choice some years back already, to move away from this terminology because it has also become more than just an umbrella term for neurobiological differences.
It has become a woke identity movement where the activists attempt to create inclusiveness for all kinds of neurology and in the process it has become a religion of identity.
Parenting from Pluto (PfP) uses a Biblical lens, therefore our identity is in Jesus Christ alone, but we respect that others can choose to believe differently! We do not stand in judgement of other’s choices, it is just for us, we choose a Biblical lens to look at all things in life while we journey through it with our neurobiological differences.
Parenting from Pluto also expereienced that there is confusion and disagreement about what neurodiversity umbrella and what not, therefore we choose clarity and calm by opting to go with the term: neurobiological differences.
here is another viewpoint on neurodiversity – click here
It also seems that only people with book knowledge (in other words; degreed with pedigrees kinda people) have the power to decide what it is or what it is not and how to treat or not to treat those whose brains are differently wired, who are bright and quirky and who really innovate and creates in away typicals can only dream off.
Crazy!
One would think that the person living with it daily would know and understand more, but we are at peace here. While they fight out there, we decided to focus on the positives of it all and move on. Let them go round and round in circles with mostly fluff-science, no real evidence-based. Just a circle of more circles of maybe’s or perhaps circles and most likely’s circles. As I said, fluff-science! While they play ring-around-the-rosies with this and that theory, we move forward living the best life we can by being SimplyUs.
NeuroDiversity, a woke identity ideology movement, is also fast becoming a religion of sorts that contains toxic tribalism. Thus be awake and alert, but also kind and loving. Accept that different strokes work for different folks and simply move on. However, being differently wired is a reality and one can not throw the baby out with the bathwater, so we are just going to throw the water out. We moved away from the term Neurodiversity because of all the things linking to it and because of the active war that surrounds it. At Parenting from Pluto (PfP) we opt to use the term neurobiological differences as it clearly states what it is without making it your identity nor adding to the confusion.
But then, what is Neurobiological differences?
One school of thought is that Neurodiversity includes autistic and allistic people, and another is that it only includes autistic people. Autistic people are those who are diagnosed or self-identified to have autism. Allistic people are those who are not autistic whether they are typical or atypical. Autistics are not typical, thus they are for sure Neuro-diverse and can also be 2e.
Neurotypical refers to people who experience cognitively, socially and emotionally neurologically typical development. About 80% of all people are neurotypicals. These people are in the “middle” of the bell curve.
The other 20% of people have neurobiological differences such as being gifted, ASD, ADHD, Dyslexia and so on. They do experience cognitively, socially and emotionally development differences on so many levels. They are atypical and on the left or right side of the bell curve.
Only about 1% of atypical people are Twice exceptional (2e)! Twice exceptional (2e) people are, by their very nature, not neurotypical and are outside-the-box learners. Twice exceptional (2e) people could be autistic or allistic and are on both sides of the bell curve.
The HumanSpectrum
We all are humans and we all are unique! Having neurobiological differences brings challenges and gifts. It is more than okay to be different, we just need to understand and adapt!
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We don’t have all the answers! We search, just like you; and come share the best resources we find out there, as well as what we experience and observe during our neurobiological different journey through life, from a Biblical viewpoint.
Just saying!
♫♥️Ah,Willa!♥️♫
This is a great,very informative article. Thank you for shedding much-needed light on the issues addressed in your article. I love the positive journey you are on. Keep shining!
Thank you, Belinda, much appreciated. I do hope it will encourage hope and clarity 🙂