It's Not Either/Or, but Both/And! Learn The Neurodiversity Paradigm!
What is the Neurodiversity Paradigm and why do we need to know about it?
What is the Neurodiversity Paradigm and why do we need to know about it?
This past Monday, when we started our class, there was a moment in the parent/social coach group where one of them said about the autistic adult they’re supporting, “That’s what I do — I fix things.” And without missing a beat, Coach Ian said, “He doesn’t need fixing — he’s not broken.” And in that moment, a paradigm shift of understanding transpired for that family, which will bring so much self-esteem and healing to the autistic adult.
Speaking of paradigm shifts…the Neurodiversity Paradigm is “tied to a grassroots civil rights movement that emerged in the 1990s* as a response to a history of systematic abuses and exclusions of autistic people across medical (e.g., institutionalization, harmful treatments, poor diagnostics), social (e.g., stigma/stereotypes, infantilizing, silencing), and civil (e.g., school, career) domains.”
Neurodiversity, a term coined by Australian sociologist Judy Singer and based on the concept of biodiversity, is a social justice movement that seeks to shift the pathologizing of different — not less — brains. It rejects the notion of neuro-normativity, or “normal” vs. “abnormal” brains, and recognizes that diversity is conducive to the overall well-being of society. While the medical model of disability sees the disabled person as the problem, the social model of disability challenges this: it recognizes that the maltreatment and exclusion people face as a result of disability is due to the way society is run and organized.
As a result, we adjust our mindsets and treatment approaches to one that respects autistic forms of social interaction and self-expression. We listen to actually autistic voices about what traumatizes them, and what helps them. This adjustment can include, among many examples, teaching the idea of “code-switching,” or alternating between types of language used with different groups in different settings.
Disruption of the dominant paradigm is essential to the liberation of all beings.
Simple — not easy.
* (Bagatell, 2010; Silberman, 2015)