Neuro-yes or Neuro-no
Neurodiverse
adjective
- displaying or characterized by autistic or other neurologically atypical patterns of thought or behaviour; not neurotypical. Oxford Languages
One word, to describe a multitude of people, thought patterns, personality traits, and even eating habits. In a world where most of us grew up in the Hollywood representation of high school social stature: the “popular” group, the “nerd”, the “weird kid” or “rebel”; I don’t think we ever imagined the amount of information we were to uncover 10-15 years down the line.
I’m starting this column because the topic is somewhat personal to me. Being diagnosed with ADHD late (diagnosed as an adult), I embarked on a journey into how the brain and nervous systems work. But it wasn’t until my daughter received her own diagnosis, in 2019, that this journey really took shape.
My daughter reached all her milestones, she was happy and healthy and, apart from hardly sleeping and displaying no fear, seemed on par with her peers. It wasn’t until she reached three years old that I realised that her peers were tolerant of more things than she was, more willing to try new foods and could actually engage in a back-and-forth conversation.
I shrugged it off because I never quite followed the milestone chart to a tee. However, it rolled into her fourth year and, as we neared the big jump to Grade R, I started realising that she wasn’t on par with her peers.
In some areas, she was rocketing past them (I mean, what kid goes past a café shop and says “Mommy, ‘bonjour’ is a French word”, while pointing at the signage?), in others she was still a few steps behind. Three months before her fifth birthday, her school called me in because “her behaviour was concerning”. She was “throwing tantrums after receiving instructions”, would wander off in class and wasn’t engaging in play with other children. I started researching and tried to make sense of it all before finally deciding to get an official diagnosis.
Two months before her fifth birthday, my daughter was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Combined Type and Sensory Processing Disorder. Quite a mouthful.
Over the next few weeks, as we celebrate Autism Acceptance Month, we’ll be delving into the spectrum that is neurodivergence. We’ll also take a look into why all these things keep cropping up now. I’ve so often heard “We never had these things when I was a child”. If I could add the glaring eyes emoji here, I would.
The truth is, we did. Remember that “weird” kid that would freak out when you touched them or looked at them? Or that super cool “rebel” that would flip off the roof on a skateboard? Or the girl who insisted she wipes every surface she was about to use, including her own hands? How about that one person who would fascinate you with their knowledge, but would only scrape through school? But we never had these things when we were younger, right?
We’re a generation of people who, for the most part, struggled through neurological disorders (emo music had to have a starting point somewhere) without even knowing we had them, and believing that our brains were functioning the same as others and that we really just sucked at this life thing.
Flash forward 30 years, we’re raising our own children and, with all the access we have to information, new studies and research, we can identify that our own children need support and, as my daughter’s psychologist said: “You know that a lot of this is hereditary, right?”
Now, before you glare at your partner and his family, nitpicking that aunty that keeps scraping her green beans off her plate, take a moment to actually reflect on your own childhood. If it’s all good, well done!
You are of the brain type that the world and all its systems are based on. If not, we have a spicy corner here, just for you. A “neurospicy” one, where we embrace the weird thoughts you blurt out, share our chicken nuggets and chips and don’t really care if you haven’t spoken to us for two weeks.
Until next week, may your dopamine rushes be plenty!
Nicole Mohamed is mom of three humans, four furbabies and wife to an overgrown kid who is also, low key, a grumpy old man. Being diagnosed ADHD, she has a variety of interests and does extensive research into so many different topics, with really big words, that she’ll forget a month later but will recall in an instant in conversation (it’s a superpower really).
Leave a Reply