Neurodiversity as a superpower, let’s discuss…
Firstly, superpowers imply superhuman. I’ve not met any human that’s superhuman. And I think attempting to attain superhuman ideals, creates a culture that’s unrealistic and unhealthy. Secondly, how you view your neurodiversity, is going to depend entirely on your personal experience. This will be impacted by your social and economic background and circle.
If you’re lucky enough to be in a privileged position and to have a formal diagnosis of your neurodiversity, and have parent, teachers or colleagues that fully understand it, who have invested time and money to support you in working through the struggles that come with any neurodiverse person trying to navigate a neurotypical dominated world – you are already winning.
This will have enabled you to find strengths (which everyone has by the way… neurotypical or neurodiverse – the strengths we have are just different, and both are needed within our world). You may feel like you have superpowers… but only because you have been supported or taken time to find them!
If however, you are constantly try your hardest but don’t understand your struggles. Your parents think you are experiencing a neurodiversity, but are not in a position to pay for an assessment, your parents aren’t supportive of this, or your teachers don’t listen, or your colleagues aren’t supportive, In fact, they don’t even really know what neurodiversity is or what to look for. Then you’re fighting a losing battle.
There’s little hope of finding your strengths, because everyday life is about what you can’t do. It’s fight or flight survival mode for you. Just getting through the day is enough. Let alone feeling like you can unleash a superpower. Your superpower at this point (if we have to call it that is survival!) Neurodiversity described as a superpower is simply subjective, and I personally feel it’s dangerous as it creates more of a divide… minimise people’s genuine struggles, whilst enabling other people to fly…
Having a neurodiverse brain is simply a way of being just like being Neurotypical is simply a way of being.
Those are my thoughts… what are yours?