The Beauty of Neurodivergence

embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion over blame, shame, and exclusion

My people are the misfits, the black sheep, the rebels and outspoken and heretics. The outsiders: minorities, immigrants, and neurodivergent thinkers and feelers. The artists, who see the world differently and draw others to consider a new lens. These are my kindred spirits. We find our outsider badge, our black sheep labels with different subtitles scrawled beneath, but we find one another, because there is belonging even in the experience of not belonging. A kinship of brave and bruised hearts.

Scrawled in subtitle on some of these Outsider labels we wear is the word, “autistic.” Autism is one form of neurodiversity, which is to say, difference in neural processing. Difference in how one perceives and processes the world. And honestly, I love that. Unique ways of thinking bring innovation, they bring critical questions, new insights, new discoveries, thought-provoking art. Divergence is fundamentally interesting and intrinsically valuable.

So it is alarming when leaders begin to speak of “eradicating” autism, of eradicating difference. These same thinkers want to eliminate racial diversity and reduce immigration from non-white countries to create a mind-numbing sameness, purging the richness that infuses a multicultural society. They frame it in terms of “burden” and “threat.”

And it’s usually a lie, or an untruth built on exaggeration.

It also belies their value system of productivity as the measure of human value, their failure to grasp the intrinsic truth of human worth.

Let’s examine where that thinking goes wrong.

Autism is considered a spectrum disorder, meaning there is a wide range of experiences and levels of impairment. It may accompany intelligence quotients from all over the bell curve, from impaired intellectual functioning to highly gifted (or “genius”) intellectual function. The often-updated current diagnostic criteria combines older understandings of a variety of developmental disorders under one umbrella, to include Autism, Asperger’s Disorder, Rett’s Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, making it challenging to paint a singular picture of what life as an autistic person is or may become (and accounting for the increase in diagnosis). For some, the label “disorder” may not seem to apply at all, and the framework of “neurodivergence” holds greater utility.

Autism is characterized by struggles with social communication and sensory processing, and deep, often perseverative interests. For some, these challenges mean difficulty in group settings, with meaningful relationships forged one-on-one. For others, it may lead to complete isolation and non-verbal shutdown. Sensory challenges may be adapted in one individual by self-awareness and reduced stimulation, or be so overwhelming to another that they cope through unusual or aggressive behaviors. For some, highly specialized and fixed interests may make them seem “odd,” while others are celebrated as experts and specialists. For everyone, understanding, accommodation, and compassion make all the difference.

It is frightening to live in a time and place where the acronym DEI has become a dirty word. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core principles upon which a functioning and just society is built. While RFK Jr slanders autistic people by claiming they will never hold jobs, pay taxes, or toilet independently[i], the administration of which he is a part is working to systematically ensure that they have the least possibility of doing so. The opposite of equity is injustice. The inverse of inclusion is exclusion. RFK Jr.’s words describing non-participation in society are a threat, not a reflection of reality.

Because autistic people fill essential roles at every level of society. Just like neurotypical people, neurodivergent adults work everywhere from restaurants to universities. I know doctors, professors, researchers, artists, and athletes who are autistic. I also know a few profoundly impaired autistic people who are still working on developing independent living and self-regulation skills. Some are both: I have a profoundly impaired autistic family member who is also a competitive athlete. (No, not on a team sport, but is baseball the only sport that matters?)

What we need, what they need, these family members and friends’ children with profound autistic impairment, is not stigma, not judgment, not marginalization and certainly not eugenics-oriented witch hunts in search of a pre-determined but repeatedly disproven source of blame[ii]. What they need is support. Empowerment. Understanding. Compassion. Inclusion. (That naughty DEI word again.) They need the strangled remaining HHS research funds to go toward developing effective therapies to help with their struggles, toward exploring further the gut-brain connection implicated in the correlative struggles of so many, toward developing effective programs for teaching the basic life functioning skills RFK Jr so rudely asserts they will never have. They need leaders to believe in them, to support (not cut) existing programs that are helping. They need non-experts who have no familiarity with autism or its diagnostic criteria, no prior research experience, and no medical license to step aside and let those who have been committed all along to empowering those with different abilities to continue their life-changing work.

Support, not eradication. Solutions, not misplaced blame.

Ask autistic people if they’d like to be “cured,” and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a yes. Autism creates vulnerabilities to greater risk of both mental and physical comorbidities, and these challenges need research, support, and treatment. But autism itself can be beautiful. Hyper-focused interests lead to subject matter expertise and ground-breaking research. Extreme sensitivities lead to exquisite poetry, music, and art, compassion and empathy. Autistic people tend to have a highly tuned sense of ethics and justice, which we woefully need more of. Not everyone needs to be the life of a party to have value as part of our society.

The change we so desperately need is not eradication of neurodiversity and all the value it brings, but a radical increase in tolerance of difference and loving embrace and support for those who struggle.

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[i] Watch the one-minute clip here:

[ii] ASD is largely a genetic trait, with over 100 gene mutations associated with autism, and is correlated with later paternal age at conception and with premature birth. Multiple, well-designed studies from all around the world have disproven the theory of a link to vaccination. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8694782/