Great list. A few more that come to mind are schizophrenia and fetal alcohol syndrome. I'm not sure if there is a specific name for this, but there are also those who are born to addicted to whatever substance their parent is using (such as heroin), with the potential for long-lasting effects (basically, the long-term effects of neonatal abstinence syndrome). I suppose a TBI might be another one.
Thanks for the suggestions! Fetal alcohol syndrome and neonatal abstinence syndrome definitely belong on the list!
I wasn't sure how to think about schizophrenia. On the one hand, there's a genetic predisposition for it. On the other hand, it doesn't fully emerge until adolescence or early adulthood.
So many acquired conditions, like TBI, strokes, or dementia, profoundly change people's brain and behavior and put them in the same situation as folks who were born with disabilities. However, it's fundamentally different to experience a disability as a disruption to who you are, versus as something you've always been. I've met elderly folks in nursing homes who had been brilliant, top in their fields, grieving and embarrassed that they now had difficulty doing basic things. For them, cognitive difficulties were a tragic loss. Whereas, with autism, any disabilities are a lifelong part of who they are and just feel "normal".
It's caused a lot of damage when neurotypical folks assume those born with a disability have tragic or pitiful lives. Deaf folks don't sit around wishing they could hear music at inaudible frequencies; they make their own. Autistic folks naturally stim or think in black and white or have intense interests, the way other folks walk and talk. To stop showing these traits, they must painfully self-censor or twist into exhausting shapes...which can lead to burnout.
Autistic people (probably Kassiane Sibley) coined the term "neurodivergence" to explain lifelong conditions like autism as natural variation, which exists in every species. And as with other animal species, whether a trait is "good" or "bad" depends on the environment. I think this history is part of the meaning of "neurodivergence".
Shall I delve into the many ways people can acquire brain differences, next?
Great list. A few more that come to mind are schizophrenia and fetal alcohol syndrome. I'm not sure if there is a specific name for this, but there are also those who are born to addicted to whatever substance their parent is using (such as heroin), with the potential for long-lasting effects (basically, the long-term effects of neonatal abstinence syndrome). I suppose a TBI might be another one.
Thanks for the suggestions! Fetal alcohol syndrome and neonatal abstinence syndrome definitely belong on the list!
I wasn't sure how to think about schizophrenia. On the one hand, there's a genetic predisposition for it. On the other hand, it doesn't fully emerge until adolescence or early adulthood.
So many acquired conditions, like TBI, strokes, or dementia, profoundly change people's brain and behavior and put them in the same situation as folks who were born with disabilities. However, it's fundamentally different to experience a disability as a disruption to who you are, versus as something you've always been. I've met elderly folks in nursing homes who had been brilliant, top in their fields, grieving and embarrassed that they now had difficulty doing basic things. For them, cognitive difficulties were a tragic loss. Whereas, with autism, any disabilities are a lifelong part of who they are and just feel "normal".
It's caused a lot of damage when neurotypical folks assume those born with a disability have tragic or pitiful lives. Deaf folks don't sit around wishing they could hear music at inaudible frequencies; they make their own. Autistic folks naturally stim or think in black and white or have intense interests, the way other folks walk and talk. To stop showing these traits, they must painfully self-censor or twist into exhausting shapes...which can lead to burnout.
Autistic people (probably Kassiane Sibley) coined the term "neurodivergence" to explain lifelong conditions like autism as natural variation, which exists in every species. And as with other animal species, whether a trait is "good" or "bad" depends on the environment. I think this history is part of the meaning of "neurodivergence".
Shall I delve into the many ways people can acquire brain differences, next?