Neurodiversity
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Neurodiversity is an idea that asserts that atypical (neurodivergent) neurological development is a normal human difference that is to be tolerated and respected as any other human difference.[1] The concept of neurodiversity is embraced by some autistic individuals and people with related conditions, who believe that autism is not a disorder, but a part of their identity, so that curing autistic people would be the same as destroying their original personalities. Some groups apply the concept of neurodiversity to ADHD,[2] developmental speech disorders as well as dyslexic, dyspraxic, hyperactive people, and Parkinson's.[2]
[edit] History of the term
The earliest published use of the term appears in a New York Times article by Harvey Blume on September 30, 1998:[3]
| “ | Neurodiversity may be every bit as crucial for the human race as biodiversity is for life in general. Who can say what form of wiring will prove best at any given moment? Cybernetics and computer culture, for example, may favor a somewhat autistic cast of mind. | ” |
Previous to this, although Blume did not make explicit use of the term Neurodiversity, he wrote in a New York Times piece on June 30, 1997:[4]
| “ | Yet anyone who explores the subject on the Internet quickly discovers an altogether different side of autism. In cyberspace, many of the nation's autistics are doing the very thing the syndrome supposedly deters them from doing -- communicating.
Yet, in trying to come to terms with an NT-dominated world, autistics are neither willing nor able to give up their own customs. Instead, they are proposing a new social compact, one emphasizing neurological pluralism. The consensus emerging from the Internet forums and Web sites where autistics congregate (...) is that NT is only one of many neurological configurations -- the dominant one certainly, but not necessarily the best. |
” |
Blume is also notable for his early public advocacy and prediction of the role the internet would play in fostering neurodiversity.[5]
| “ | There is a political dimension to this bond with the Internet. A project called CyberSpace 2000 is devoted to getting as many people as possible in the autistic spectrum hooked up by the year 2000, reason being that "the Internet is an essential means for autistic people to improve their lives, because it is often the only way they can communicate effectively."
[ ... ] the community of autistics, which may not have matured and come to self-awareness without the Internet, presents the rest of us with a challenge. The challenge we will all be increasingly confronted with, on-line and off, is, to look at ourselves differently than we have before, that is, to accept neurological diversity. NT is only one way to be. |
” |
The term mostly appears within the online autistic community, but its usage has spread to a more general meaning; for example, the Developmental Adult Neurodiversity Association (DANDA) in the UK encompasses developmental dyspraxia, ADHD, Asperger syndrome and related conditions.[6] Usage of the term has seen a boost with a 2004 New York Times article by Amy Harmon, "The Disability Movement Turns to Brains".[1]
[edit] Proponents and opponents
Many supporters of neurodiversity are anti-cure autistics, who are engaged in advocacy; some parents of autistic children also support neurodiversity. Such parents say they value their children's individuality and want to allow their children to develop naturally. For example, Morton Ann Gernsbacher is a parent of an autistic child and a psychology professor, who argues that autistics need acceptance, not a cure, and endorses the theory that autism cannot be separated from the person.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Harmon, Amy. Neurodiversity Forever; The Disability Movement Turns to Brains. The New York Times, May 9, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
- ^ a b Woodford, Gillian. 'We Don't Need to be Cured' Autistics Say. National Review of Medicine. Volume 3. No. 8. 2006-04-30. Retrieved 2008-02-23
- ^ Blume, Harvey. "Neurodiversity", The Atlantic, September 30, 1998. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
- ^ Blume, Harvey. "Autistics, freed from face-to-face encounters, are communicating in cyberspace", The New York Times, June 30, 1997. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
- ^ Blume, Harvey (July 1, 1997). "Autism & The Internet" or "It's The Wiring, Stupid". Media In Transition, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
- ^ Home page. DANDA. Retrieved on 2007-11-08
- ^ Gernsbacher, Morton Ann. "Autistics Need Acceptance, Not Cure". autistics.org, April 24, 2004. Retrieved on 2 February 2007.
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