Chapter 10 -The Future of Neurodiversity
As I read through this book, in addition to watching a few of Thomas Armstrong’s youtube videos such as “ 17 Reasons Why I Believe ADHD is Not a Legitimate Medical Disorder” (Armstrong, sept 2019), and ‘Channeling the Creative Energies of ADHD-Diagnosed Kids” (Armstrong, April 2018), the constant theme that struck me is the duality of neurodiversity. This implies that neurodiversity itself isn’t good or bad but are dependent on many other contexts from cultural, biological, socio-economical and historical, which then determines which how parts or whole of neurodiversity is perceived.
We have to be very careful to be clear to discuss judgements, values and perceptions of neurodiversity contextually. In terms of learning and education, what are the goal/s to prepare students adequately for 21st century jobs? With goals, we can then use them as a talking point to demonstrate the necessary of neurodiversity in our current day and age with our goals. At the same time, we have to point out how different the neurodiverse were valued throughout history, which demonstrated that there isn’t a neurotype that is best, but how all neurotypes can be productive members of society today with thoughtful support and modifications as we will not know which neurotypes will be needed in the future. Perhaps, the best way is to find another word instead of neurotypical and neurodiverse to really illustrate the most important point I think Thomas Armstrong is trying to make, that every individual has our own unique profiles of how we learn, our interests, our strengths and challenges.
References:
Armstrong,T. (Sept 2019). 17 Reasons Why I Believe ADHD is Not a Legitimate Medical Disorder. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRbbpZKrPd8
Armstrong, T. (April 2018). Channeling the Creative Energies of ADHD-Diagnosed Kids. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLA2I-Y08hM