Neurodivergency

Neurodivergent pride: There is evidently a general argument above that neurodivergent art needs to be considered on its own merit and not attributed to medicalised autistic traits. This is because there is an inherently negative association towards disability or neurodivergency. Negative association towards disability and neurodivergency is prevalent in society with medicalised traits that are constructed in terms of lack and deviance (Attias, 2020) and the ways in which they fail to be normative. However, the neurodiversity paradigm is built on the idea of disability pride which suggests that neurological differences are naturally occurring and not inherently negative. Taking that into consideration, it may be argued that attributing artistic talent to neurodivergent traits doesn't have to be inherently negative but instead adds to the advantages of being neurodivergent, and speaks to the context of the artist.

Neurodivergency is common. Taken as a whole, these conditions are present in 15-20% of the population. So it is not just your patients: you, your partner, child, father, mother, sibling, col-league, line manager or subordinate may be neurodivergent. But not everyone who is neurodivergent ends up with a clinical diag. nosis. There will be many reasons for this and people will be in a number of potentially different situations (Box 31.1). As such, the clinical presentation of neurodivergency and of neurodevelopmental disorders is probably the tip of the iceberg (Figure 31.1).

During her PhD studies, Amy discovered neurodivergency. In 2019, when she joined disability communities and devoted her research to disability studies, neurodivergency gave her a vocabulary through which she could finally understand her world and how her brain works within it. Amy explains neurodivergency as a concept that acknowledges the vast biological diversity of the human mind and cognitive behaviors. It is used in contrast to neurotypical. While all human brains have differences, neurodivergence often refers to people with one or more cognitive, learning, or development disabilities, which includes mental illness. A common misconception is that neurodivergence is a synonym for autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, or any single experience. Neurodivergence is, she says, like autism—an infinite number of experiences that exist on a spectrum.