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When We're Talkin' NEURO-DIVERSITY --- We're Talkin' NEURO-DIVERSITY

2/22/2022

I think one of the GREAT GIFTS of NEURO-DIVERSITY is revealing UNDERLYING COMMONALITIES and NEEDS of people who might perceive themselves as OPPOSITES.

People NEED their Talents developed and recognized
People can't IGNORE their WEAKNESSES --- but they may need help in dealing with them.
People are NOT Perfect --- and if they are spending a lot of time "MASKING" that takes a toll.
If the price of admission to the COMMUNITY is a PRETENSE of PERFECTION --- that is going to have CONSEQUENCES for the INDIVIDUAL and the SOCIETY.

On the one hand, you could look at our CELEBRITY CULTURE and say how ridiculous, crass and stupid it is.

On the other hand, we're really trying to UNDERSTAND the COMPLEXITY of the PERSON ---- where all the positive traits and all the negative traits are not going together.

It's a lot about GROWING UP.

Aspergers from the Inside

High Functioning Autism --- It is NOT what you think.

(Takes on the 70 IQ to argue for more understanding and "HELP" for NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE with higher IQs.)

Val's Take: I think as more and more people are aware of Executive Functioning Differences and their relationship to NEURO-DIVERSITY and NEURO-DIVERSITY's relationship to PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS ---
we're going to start taking "HIGH FUNCTIONING NEURO-DIVERSITY" a lot more seriously.

A lot of people who are HOMELESS and JUSTICE-INVOLVED are NEURO-DIVERSE with IQs above 70.

We've got to start educating ourselves and others ---- and that's the message of so many NEURO-DIVERGENT Youtubers. See the Neurodivergent Rebel below.

These understandings have to make it to our SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEMS and our POLICYMAKING.

There is so much that NEURO-DIVERSITY has to offer ---- BUT this can't be done in IGNORANCE.

Neurodivergent Rebel
Setting Healthy Boundaries

Val's Take: There is so much EDUCATION that needs to go on to get a CRITICAL MASS of people who can address these NEURODIVERGENT issues.

My experience is there's NOBODY in the room who understands these issues -- & I didn't either. Further, people aren't fitting neatly into the CURRENT CATEGORIES --- so it can take a long time to get that DIAGNOSIS that is fairly SIMPLISTIC for the REALITY.

Most of this is driven by DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION and that tends to be INDIVIDUAL.

Neuro-Diversity in the Workplace: Is It A Blessing or a Curse?

2/13/2022

If done CONSCIOUSLY --- it can be a BLESSING --- If not, the ROAD TO HELL WAS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

The inset to the right is a Survivor of the 1972 Andes Plane Crash.

The survivors were given WRONG DIRECTIONS --- and ultimately resorted to CANNIBALISM to SURVIVE.

One of the things that many --- OUT-GROUPS come to realize is that IN-GROUPS are CANNABALIZING them --- meaning IN-GROUPS are using people in OUT-GROUPS to:

Prop up their own egos;
Serve as a buffer from the bottom of the social heap: and
Strengthen Ties Among the "In-Group"

Of course, if you're in a HIERARCHICAL SYSTEM, without REAL INCLUSIVITY --- we're NOT RECOGNIZING that EVERYONE has STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES --- then the POWER to DEFINE is going to DEFINE that OUT-GROUP to the BOTTOM OF THE SOCIAL HEAP.

I think the IN-GROUP(s) may have some PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY because a lot of this is UNCONSCIOUS --- BUT it is NOT UNCONSCIOUS to People in the OUT-GROUP(s).

So when we think about NEURO-DIVERSITY ---- at least 4 Groups need to be IDENTIFIED --- and interestingly they are often considered OPPOSITES:

People who didn't do well in SCHOOL and had EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES;
People who did great in SCHOOL and had EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES;
People at the TOP of this SOCIETY with EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES;
People at the BOTTOM of this SOCIETY with EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES.

So in our SOCIETY --- what are the GO-TO EXPLANATIONS for the UNDER PREFORMERS --- well, they just didn't APPLY THEMSELVES, they didn't work hard enough--- or they just don't have the TALENT --- they don't have what it takes .

However, I would submit if you really start INVESTIGATING this --- IT IS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED.

So WRONG DIRECTIONS ---
- What we're often not taking into account is that the person is BENEFITTING from SUPPORTS in the ENVIRONMENT that are MASKING or MAKING IRRELEVANT these EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES.

So for someone like myself, my DAD wasn't doing my homework for me --- BUT
- He was a lover of STRUCTURE and ORDER --- not in a pathological way ---
  - It drove me crazy sometimes but it allowed me to THRIVE ---
  - Further, I didn't really know what CRAZY was or how much I depended on that SUPPORT until it wasn't there.
  - Further, even my father didn't realize how much I was dependent on that SUPPORT.

Additionally, all this STRUCTURE & ORDER was paired with unparalleled
- COACHING,
- CHEERLEADING and
- an APPRECIATION of INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES--- it's a RARE COMBINATION --- it wasn't perfect but it allowed me to thrive --- certainly in SCHOOL.

I knew I had weaknesses --- BUT they had been COMPENSATED FOR pretty EFFECTIVELY.
- What I really knew was that I had BIG STRENGTHS.

I didn't know that my WEAKNESSES could overtake me without the PROPER SUPPORT.

I think this is TRUE for people across the board.
I think it is easier to see with NEURO-DIVERSITY because the perceived (or hidden) STRENGTHS can be BIGGER and so can the perceived (or hidden) WEAKNESSES.

That ASYNCHRONY (or perhaps SYNCHRONY if properly understood) is a source of a lot of FRUSTRATION ---

Those STRENGTHS have to be addressed just as much as those WEAKNESSES through
- COACHING and
- CHEERLEADING
- NOT understanding and developing the person's STRENGTHS ends up being just as much of a problem as not understanding WEAKNESSES because ----
  - Those STRENGTHS are the FIRST LINE of COMPENSATION for the WEAKNESSES.

On the other hand, to me Bill Clinton and Donald Trump are CAUTIONARY TALES about what happens if we allow NEURO-DIVERSE people with BIG STRENGTHS and BIG WEAKNESSES to RUN AMUCK.
- Throughout history, people really have had a hard time dealing with COMLEXITY in their Leaders ---
  - the Divine Right of Kings comes to mind, and
  - JFK

BUT ultimately that is not just COMPLEXITY in the PERSON at the TOP or in the SPOTLIGHT --- it's COMPLEXITY in HUMAN BEINGS.

According to some Service Providers, many incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people have tried to START their own BUSINESSES and are interested in ENTREPEURSHIP.

In some cases the lift to SUPPORTED ENTREPRENEURSHIP may be less than the lift to SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT --- if we know what we need to COMPENSATE for and what we need to BUILD UPON.

I'm not sure it's an "UNDUE HARDSHIP" on Employers to ACCOMMODATE their NEURO-DIVERSE Employees --- but the fact of the matter is it can take a FAIR AMOUNT OF EFFORT ---
- Especially, as the PATH is BEING BLAZED.

Intensity and Burnout in Autism, ADHD & Giftedness

2/7/2022

Someone like me --- I have aspects / symptoms that look kinda like:

Autism
- Food sensitivities and pickiness
- Considerable RATIONALITY to deal with SENSORY OVERLOAD and INTENSE EMOTIONALITY
ADHD
- Interested in EXCITING things --- CRIMINAL LAW
- Sensory Overload and Intense Emotionality
- Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria -- which can probably be seen in Autism and Giftedness as well
GIFTEDNESS
- was one of 3 high school valedictorians
- graduated Top 10 Seniors at a State University
- Sensory Overload and Intense Emotionality
Tourette's
- Not exactly Tourette's but a Movement Disorder that gets triggered by INTENSE EMOTION.

So what happens if we FOCUS on the CATEGORIES in the DSM? Somebody like myself --- GETS MISSED.

That FAILURE to IDENTIFY and COMPENSATE for NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES --- has CONSEQUENCES.

However much we may be fascinated by NEURO-PLASTICITY --- our current understandings and automatic biological processes have their LIMITS ---

I would submit that the HYPER-CONNECTED BRAINS of people with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS are PHYSICAL EVIDENCE of our current LIMITS.

Asperger's from the Inside: Avoiding Autistic Burnout

Paul asks the question --- Is it even possible to avoid BURNOUT if you are on the Spectrum?

Because the way one's brain works is ---- INTENSE FOCUS and CRASH.

Recognizing that EXTRA TIME you need to take to RECOVER is important.

Of course, the SOCIETY doesn't UNDERSTAND that --- and maybe it is hard for FAMILY AND FRIENDS to UNDERSTAND as well.

How to ADHD: What Does It Mean to Have "Burnout"

Gets into the official definition of BURNOUT and recognizes it as a SYSTEMIC MISMATCH between the PERSON and the ENVIRONMENT.

In other words --- we're not blaming the INDIVIDUAL.

Edvin Palmer: Living with Emotional Intensity - Part 1 - Intellectual Giftedness

"When people think about intellectual giftedness, they often get stuck on the intellectual part of it. But, giftedness also has an emotional component. So, in this video, I speak with openness and honesty about what it's like to live with emotional intensity."

I think a lot of "GIFTED" People think the answer is going to be to find somebody else who is INTELLECTUALLY or otherwise "GIFTED" --- and the reality is often one has just SQUARED the EMOTIONAL INTENSITY.

RELATIONSHIPS are HARD for NEURO-DIVERSE people --- you're having to work harder and so is the other person.

NEURODiversity Wednesday

When We're Talkin' NEURO-DIVERSITY --- We're Talkin' NEURO-DIVERSITY

Neuro-Diversity in the Workplace: Is It A Blessing or a Curse?

Intensity and Burnout in Autism, ADHD & Giftedness

Neuro-Diversity
Wednesday

(with variable spellings of Neurodiversity)

Archives

Categories

​ NEURODiversity Wednesday

When We're Talkin' NEURO-DIVERSITY --- We're Talkin' NEURO-DIVERSITY

Neuro-Diversity in the Workplace: Is It A Blessing or a Curse?

Intensity and Burnout in Autism, ADHD & Giftedness

Neuro-DiversityWednesday(with variable spellings of Neurodiversity)

Archives

Categories

NEURODiversity Wednesday

Neuro-Diversity
Wednesday

(with variable spellings of Neurodiversity)