Blog Post 15

 Neurodiversity

Discrimination against neurodiverse individuals has been institutionalized for many years. In this week’s lecture, we heard from a guest speaker. Within this Powerpoint presentation we explored the social model of disability. This model sees disability “as resulting from a poor fit between the (physical, cognitive or emotional) characteristics of a given individual and the characteristics of their social context” (Schwichtenberg, 2022, slide 18). An example of institutionalized discrimination is that of keeping children with disabilities outside of “normal” classrooms. This leads to society treating those with disabilities as less than and incapable. This is similar to systemic racism in the way that harmful stereotypes were enforced from places with higher power. Just as school systems (and many other systems) reinforce the idea that neurodiverse individuals are incapable, the government and law enforcement systems enforce the idea that people of color are worth less than a White individual. 

Autism is described in many ways in the podcast Juicervose. One of the most important quotes from the podcast is by David Royko who states, “If you’ve known one person with autism, you’ve known one person with autism” (Abumrad, 2014, 25:13). It’s very important to remember every person with autism is different. On the science side, Jad Abumrad says that many studies have shown that “kids with autism literally have too many synapses in their brain” (Abumrad, 2014, 19:27). In Juicervose, Owen Suskind, who has autism, benefits from Disney movies because a predictable plot and music help to make sense of the busy world (Abumrad, 2014).

As individuals and a society, we can educate ourselves and others in order to be more inclusive of neurodiverse individuals. Breaking harmful stereotypes is essential. Allowing neurodiverse individuals to attend any school and not be isolated is vital to being inclusive. When the general public understands that neurodiverse individuals are not worth less than anyone else, society will be more inclusive towards these individuals.

References

Abumrad, J., & Krulwich, R. (2014, September 18). Juicervose: Radiolab. WNYC Studios- Kelsey Padgett. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/juicervose#ember30921211 

Schwichtenberg, A.J. (2022). Neurodiversity [PowerPoint]. Purdue Brightspace. https://purdue.brightspace.com/d2l/le/content/464001/viewContent/8454895/View