Neurodiversity

 Talking Points

1. I had never thought of neurodiversity as a social justice movement, but as Judy Singer pointed out “there are “neurological minorities” which are people whose brains work in atypical ways.” People within this minority experience a stigma and unequal access to resources like different support services and accommodations. 

2. “For kids around middle-school age who are struggling socially, identifying as neurodiverse can be a way to make sense of what they’re going through.” I see this often in our middle school. A number of students are diagnosed with ADHD and take medication to help them. We recently had a student that came in and was telling his classmates about he was going to get tested for ADHD and he hopes it will help. It is nice to see this group come together about something that can be hard to talk about especially in middle school where you more often feel the need to “fit in”.

3. Reading this passage also made me think of reading privilege, power and differences by Alan Johnson. Schools are often designed around a narrow definition of what is “normal,” which tends to benefit students whose brains align with those expectations. As a result, students who think or learn differently may be misunderstood, disciplined more often, or seen as less capable. This can happen not necessarily because of their abilities, but because of how our system is structured.

   

Argument Statement 

The author, Caroline Miller, argues that neurodiversity is the idea that brain differences are natural and valuable, and people should be supported and not judged for thinking differently.

Making connections

My mother is the director of a program that supports neurodivergent students. I often hear my mom refer to the students in her program as students who have learning variations. Neurodiversity means there is no single “right” way for a brain to work. Types of neurodiversity like ADHD, autism, and learning differences are part of our differences or variations as human beings, no one is exactly alike. These students just require different ways of learning to help them succeed and it should be seen as a strength and not a deficit. We want our students to develop the critical tools of self-advocacy and self-awareness. These tools they can bring even outside of the classroom and into the real world. I see students being diagnosed and helped more often now as a teacher than when I was a student. More parents are accepting and trying to help their child with their different needs. It can be hard in my current setting for our students to receive the support they need. We have people that come from the public school systems to help with dysgraphia, dyslexia and other types of neurodiversity. But I know our staff often feels at times we wish we could do more. 

A family member of mine’s son is very young and was having a hard time communicating what he needed/wanted, so they took him to a specialist. He has been diagnosed with ASD. But now with this early diagnosis his teachers in his school are able to play to his strengths and help him communicate when he is feeling frustrated. He has started saying words and counting and I know he will succeed even more now with the support he has already in place.