Why the world needs a neurodivergent perspective on health

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Language Processing Disorder, etc., etc.. It's an epidemic!

I heard someone say this recently and it completely stopped me off guard.

An epidemic?

Why? Because you can't fathom thinking in the way individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions do?

That's the thing I've noticed lately. If something isn't someone's perspective, isn't their values, they don't understand it, or it doesn't affect them then it must not actually exist. It's wrong, different, it's a nuisance, a burden.

It's like we can't even fathom that not only doesn't someone have a different opinion than us but that someone may actually think and experience the world in an entirely different way.

Neurotypical people consider neurodiversity a weakness, something that needs to be worked on or solved. But neurodiverse people aren't sick or dying. It's not a disease.

It's a different way of thinking. The brain is structured in a different way so then it functions in a different way and produces different thoughts and therefore a different perspective.

Why is a different perspective on health necessary?

While I acknowledge that there are lots of perspectives out in the world on health, wellness, and sustainability amongst neurotypicals, neurotypicals cannot think in the way that neurodivergent's can. Neither is bad or wrong, simply different.

If neurotypicals cannot think in the way that neurodivergent's can then don't we need the neurodivergent experience and perspective to have a fuller picture of a concept?

But why do we need that? Why do we need a fuller picture? Don't we already have a good enough picture of health to help?

Something that I've learned over the years is that one perspective, one solution just isn't enough. I started my business in 2018 and I dove into learning "all the things," all the strategies and was told, "this is how you do it."

But then I was working so hard at the strategies and they weren't working. I just couldn't pull it together. Nothing was resulting the way the coaches said it would, nothing was working. I thought that something had to be wrong with me because these strategies worked for others. They were THE strategies.

But what I realized was while these strategies worked for some people they didn't work for everyone. There is not a "one-size-fits-all" for anything in life. Not one thing. Not business strategies, not workouts, not nutrition, nothing.

So, this perspective IS necessary.

We need more than one perspective and there is so much power in a perspective that is against the norm. Especially in the health field where there are a million theories floating around and nothing is absolutely known.

But here is the big thing....

Roughly 11% of people worldwide have ADHD.
Roughly 1% of people worldwide have Autism.
Roughly 5% of people worldwide have sensory-related concerns.

And that is just diagnosed individuals. The number is much higher for everyone who has conditions who are not diagnosed for various reasons.

That's millions, maybe even billions, of people who are considered neurodiverse, who think and see things differently.

That's a lot of people who are being pushed into the neurotypical experience who simply don't understand or experience the world that way. A lot of people who are trying to do things in a neurotypical way, act in a neurotypical way, live in a neurotypical world who just don't fit in.

What is the end result?

We want humans to succeed, all humans. In order to change the world, we need all humans to succeed, which means we need to open the doors to allow this to happen.

Neurodivergent people need roles models just like them, tools and theories on health that work for them, space to be and think and act the way they were naturally made to be.

Neurodiversity is NOT an epidemic, it's not a burden, it's not a weakness, it is simply another way of thinking and experiencing the world. Neurodivergent's just don't fit into the world that was created by neurotypicals (and they shouldn't). Neurotypicals don't always see that the way things are done, the "norm," doesn't work for everyone.

This different perspective is so necessary for the health field especially. So many people try hard to fit into the mold, to do all the right things, to follow the rules, and then feel like failures when it just doesn't work.

Failure often means living an unhealthy life. This results in people thinking that people with Autism, ADHD, etc. have a higher risk of being overweight and unhealthy. The headlines on Google are overwhelming.

But could it be that a person with Autism might just need to learn about health from another person with Autism, maybe they just need to do health in an Autistic way?

I know I have struggled with my wellness journey, my business journey, all the journey's really. I was trying to emulate what others were doing, follow the rules, do it right but it always seemed to crash down on me. I thought I wasn't cut out for business, I thought I'd never be good enough, healthy enough. I thought I was doomed to stay right where I was with health.

Until I realized that I was looking for role models who weren't like me. I was trying to emulate the actions and thoughts of extroverted business owners, I was trying to emulate the actions and thoughts of neurotypical health coaches or experts, instead of finding role models like me.

So I found an introverted business coach, I started following neurodiverse athletes and coaches, and I also started shaping myself and learning about health with a more neurodiverse and introverted lens. I started to become the role model that I was so desperately looking for.

Now I am my own health and wellness role model. I embrace what makes me different and I critically think through ideologies and concepts related to these topics with an awareness of things work in my own brain, in my world.

I'm not saying that I am the be-all-end-all when it comes to the neurodiverse perspective on health. I am saying that we need to understand that there is always more than one perspective and we need that variety and those voices out in the world.

When we embrace this need for other perspectives that's when this world will truly flourish.

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