neurodivergence

Neurodivergence is a term describing individuals whose neurological development and functioning differ significantly from what is considered typical. It is both a descriptive term and an advocacy framework embraced by many in the neurodivergent community.

The word neurodivergent was coined in the early 2000s by Kassiane Asasumasu, a multiply neurodivergent disabled activist, as language for describing cognitive differences outside of medicalised frameworks. Her contribution has often been under-credited in mainstream accounts of the neurodiversity movement, but the term she created has become foundational to how neurodivergent people describe themselves, build community, and advocate for their needs.

The shortened form of neurodivergent is ND. In the community, in a playful, tongue-in-cheek way, it is also known as neurospicy.

OCD is increasingly recognised within the neurodiversity framework due to its neurological basis and overlap with other neurodivergent conditions, though it also has distinct features as a mental health condition.

Is neurodivergence a scientific or a social category?

Neurodivergence functions as both a clinical descriptor and a framework embraced by advocacy and civil rights movements. So it does the double duty of meaning both neurological differences and the community perspective that has shaped how we understand them.

Neurodivergence is mostly determined by genetics. From a neuroscience standpoint, neurodivergent traits emerge when the brain’s development doesn’t follow typical trajectories in:

• how new nerve cells develop
• how connections form in the nervous system, 
• how many neural connections the brain removes, 
• how well the brain insulates pathways between nerve cells,
• how different parts of the brain communicate with each other
• how certain neurotransmitters like dopamine are regulated.

From a social standpoint, a neurodivergent brain is one that works in a way that is not expected: when a behaviour or response diverges from what is expected socially, physically, or verbally.¹

The neurodivergent community emphasises that neurological differences are natural variations in human diversity, rather than deficits requiring a cure. This perspective, rooted in disability justice, challenges medical models that pathologise difference. Advocates call for acceptance, systemic accommodation, and the removal of barriers—rather than pressure to conform to neurotypical norms. The neurodiversity movement demonstrates that support and celebration of difference can coexist.

neurotypical people + neurodivergent people = neurodiversity

Neurodivergent and neurotypical people are all part of neurodiversity.

Neurodiversity covers the many and varied natural variations in how brains work. Despite sadly prevailing stereotypes, neurodivergent people are not ‘broken’ or ‘abnormal’, and their neurological differences are not to be ‘fixed’ or ‘cured’. Instead, they need to be supported in the specific areas of life where they require support, and boundaries also have to be removed in areas where societal constructs disable these individuals.

Well-identified and thoroughly explored individual needs can be matched with the support best suited for the individual, which will enable both the fulfilment of their needs and the achievement of their goals without requiring a denial or change in who they are as a person.

This is a balance that is not easy to strike, but it can mean the world to a neurodivergent person. Support and acceptance do not exclude one another, therefore they should go hand-in-hand in a neurodivergence-friendly approach to accommodations in a work or school environment.

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