My current pet theory is that the traits we see as 'neurotypical' or 'neuronormative' are those which tend towards safety in conformity and potential for being controlled, i.e. those which make large scale human organisation possible, so fully agree on the connection with White Supremacy. I do feel that our tendency to describe people as either neurodivergence or neurotypical, rather than each of us holding a collection of these traits, is holding us back from a more profound shift in how we see each other and ourselves.
Love this! I took American students abroad to England for most of this month. We visited Oxford, and as they listened to tales of the exams, several quietly asked me how neurodiverse students would be able to succeed there. The best answer I could give them was: They don’t, and they are washed out of the path to this type of education early. They were appalled.
While you may be right in some cases, I would also say that some neurodiverse students absolutely thrive in universities of various kinds, including Oxford. I guess it depends on the individual, really. I didn't go to Oxford but I worked there, and I would say it was one of my neuromes - although I didn't even know I was autistic/ADHD back then (2001). I remember saying to my mum, 'I feel at home here, because I'm strange but here loads of other people are strange too.'
P.S. I was and still am a librarian and libraries are very neuromey places, in case you ever need to find an emergency neurome. (But you are probably aware of that anyway).
My current pet theory is that the traits we see as 'neurotypical' or 'neuronormative' are those which tend towards safety in conformity and potential for being controlled, i.e. those which make large scale human organisation possible, so fully agree on the connection with White Supremacy. I do feel that our tendency to describe people as either neurodivergence or neurotypical, rather than each of us holding a collection of these traits, is holding us back from a more profound shift in how we see each other and ourselves.
*neurodivergent
Love this! I took American students abroad to England for most of this month. We visited Oxford, and as they listened to tales of the exams, several quietly asked me how neurodiverse students would be able to succeed there. The best answer I could give them was: They don’t, and they are washed out of the path to this type of education early. They were appalled.
While you may be right in some cases, I would also say that some neurodiverse students absolutely thrive in universities of various kinds, including Oxford. I guess it depends on the individual, really. I didn't go to Oxford but I worked there, and I would say it was one of my neuromes - although I didn't even know I was autistic/ADHD back then (2001). I remember saying to my mum, 'I feel at home here, because I'm strange but here loads of other people are strange too.'
P.S. I was and still am a librarian and libraries are very neuromey places, in case you ever need to find an emergency neurome. (But you are probably aware of that anyway).
I certainly am!
Neuromes. What a word. Thanks.