Neurodivergent Genius

When we talk about genius, most people picture lone prodigies, dazzling intellects who stand apart. But what if genius isn’t about individual brilliance at all? What if it’s something that emerges from difference—especially the kinds of difference our society often misunderstands or sidelines?

In Neurodivergent Genius, I suggest that autism, ADHD, aphantasia, and other divergent ways of thinking are not deficits but hidden engines of human evolution. These minds notice what others miss, question what others assume, and imagine what others cannot see. They destabilize old patterns and open new pathways, not by fitting in but by disrupting.

This raises an uncomfortable but exciting possibility: perhaps our future depends less on conformity and more on cultivating spaces where difference is allowed to flourish. Instead of asking how neurodivergent people can adapt to “normal,” maybe the real question is how our cultures can adapt to the gifts of divergence.

So here’s what I’d love to ask you: when you look at your own circles—family, workplace, community—what would change if we treated neurodivergence as an evolutionary advantage rather than a problem to be fixed?

(To make this a little less political, let me add this: While Intersectionality and DEI frameworks focus primarily on how overlapping social identities (race, gender, class, sexuality, disability, etc.) generate structural inequalities and call for inclusive power shifts, the concept of “Neurodivergent Genius” aims at something more: not merely inclusion, but rethinking the very terms of value, competence, and evolution.)