What is Neurodivergence?

I used to work for a company that developed natural language interfaces. We created bots to search through websites or find individuals to collaborate with.

Let’s say I am interested in mathematics. A mathematician is a natural choice for cooperation, but is a physicist a better fit than a gardener? Artificial intelligence at the time struggled with this question. It has come a long way since. However, even back then, humans had no problem answering that question, primarily due to how we handle our everyday knowledge.

I will utilize the visualization of the results to enhance our understanding of neurodiversity.

Our graph represented data points on a plane, much like a map. Cities and villages represented job descriptions. The distances between them indicated the perceived differences among those job descriptions.

We were an IT company. Our team members came from similar professions, forming large, city-like clusters. The village of gardeners was small and remote. IT jobs are like the different neighborhoods in a city - they're all connected.

Now, imagine a multidimensional space defined by various criteria. These could include factors such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, complexity, intensity, and more. Individuals will appear as large clusters, small groups, and single points in this space. Think of it again as cities, villages, and isolated houses, if you prefer. The distances between these structures will range from very close to light-years apart.

When we normalize each dimension, the densities around the center are remarkable. Consider IQ. 95% of humanity has an IQ between 70 and 130, which falls within two standard deviations of the average. 68% fall between 85 and 115 or one deviation. The city and its surrounding suburbs house approximately 95% of humanity, with 68% concentrated in the downtown area.

It is difficult for most people to imagine a multidimensional room. Picture a hyper homecoming ball, a major school dance. The nerds stand close to the walls while the rest are dancing in the center. Those in the center may form several groups, such as the Jets and the Sharks in one of the dance scenes from West Side Story.

Remember, the dimensions of this space reflect traits of the brain or mind. The distribution we constructed represents neurodiversity. Individuals near the center are neurotypical. Those who live in remote areas are neurodivergent.

There are some catches to this.

People living near the center usually choose the dimensions and set their scales.

Different worldviews might select different dimensions to define what is so-called normal. In other words, the norm depends on a hierarchy of values.

Neurodiversity, like everything else, is in a constant state of flux. This is evident in autism. It was once called childhood schizophrenia before evolving into a more specific diagnosis. Recently, this diagnosis has expanded. It shifted from a dichotomy to a spectrum and from a mental illness to a disorder. Some people—look at me!—even describe it as a gift.

This imagery explains a saying popular among neurodivergent people:

If you have met one neurodivergent person, you have met ... one neurodivergent person.