What's The Point?

Psychiatrist Thomas Armstrong highlights society's flawed framing of learning disabilities. Instead of inherent brain differences, we treat learning disabilities as flaws, or things people "suffer" from—despite the large increase in the number of defined mental disabilities in the past 50-60 years. Armstrong lays out eight principles of neurodiverity to recognize in reframing brain differences away from disabilities and toward neurodiversity

Eight Principles of Neurodiversity

• The human brain works more like an ecosystem than a machine
• Human beings and human brains exist in continuums of competence
• Human competence is defined by the values of the culture to which you belong.
• Whether you are regarded as disabled or gifted depends largely on when or where you live
• Success in life is based upon adapting one’s brain to the needs of the surrounding environment
• Success in life depends upon modifying your surrounding environment to fit the needs of your unique brain
• Niche construction includes career and lifestyle choices and assistive technologies tailored to the needs of a neurodiverse individual
• Positive niche construction directly modifies the brain, which in turn enhances its ability to adapt to the environment

Notable Quotes

Background Context

This piece does a great job in destigmatizing learning disabilities, and recognizing everyone as a human/unique etc.

• I think this does a great job tying in with the ownership of one's own narrative premise. By informing individuals that their LD's do not hinder their ability to be human, and instead just supports the idea of them seeing the world in a different lens/having a unique specialty — this encourages them to feel more comfortable with their own identity, and to 'own' their lives (I see this as particularly important with those who may have a learning disability — LD's may lead to lower self-esteem/self-confidence