April is Neurodiversity Celebration Month, which raises awareness of neurodiversity, challenges stereotypes, highlights the contributions and talents of neurodivergent individuals, and advocates for inclusivity.
What is neurodiversity?
The term refers to variances among people in brain function and behavior, which are natural aspects of human diversity. It first appeared in a 1998 honors thesis by Judy Singer, an Australian sociologist, and was shortly after popularized by the American journalist Harvey Blume in an article for The Atlantic in 1998 as a portmanteau of “neurological diversity.” He stated, “Neurodiversity may be every bit as crucial for the human race as biodiversity is for life in general. Who can say what form of wiring will prove best at any given moment?” “Neurodiversity” encompasses conditions such as autism, ADHD, and bipolar. The neurodiversity movement is a civil rights movement that emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s and intersects with the wider disability rights movement.