The Neurodivergent Revolution

What is the Neurodivergent Revolution?

A storyboard in which you will go through an artist's personal reflections of neurodiversity through research; and a series of poetry pieces meant to mirror neurodiversity through a somewhat exaggerated, but representative and empathetic lens.

How do I read this?

The storyboard will take you through three Acts that represent different types of neurodiversity. The very first portion of my storyboard will provide you some research meant to preface why Neuodiversity is important. First, you will be taken through some research that I did in order to educate myself on what it is for those who are neurodivergent and become culturally aware of how they view the world and how they respond to the world. Then, you will be taken through an artist/and or figure in society who shares that same type of neurodiversity and will learn about them and their work. Lastly, to sum up the Act, you will be taken through my creative work that is meant to put what I learned from my research into poetry.

Introduction - Brief overview of the term neurodivergence and its' origins

Prologue - Defining Neurodiversity

Act 1 - Autism

1. Definition of autism, related terminology, literature and studies
2. Artist recognition
3. Preface to poems with (more research!) specific studies/terminologies
4. Reflections through poetry

Act 2 - Dyslexia

1. Definition of dyslexia, related terminology, literature and studies
2. Artist recognition
3. Preface to poems with specific studies/terminologies
4. Reflections through poetry

Act 3 - ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactive disorder)

1. Definition of ADHD, related terminology, literature and studies
2. Artist recognition
3. Preface to poems with specific studies/terminologies
4. Reflections through poetry

Conclusion

In 1993, Jim Sinclair gave a speech titled "Don't Mourn For Us" at 1993 International Conference on Autism in Toronto. Sinclair's speech had a significant influence on the social justice movement for neurodivergent individuals. Sinclair is an early pioneer of the neurodivergent movement and advocated for various changed within the rhetoric and discourse of neurodiversity (Sinclair 1993).

Then, we have Judy Singer, an autistic social scientist who first pioneered the term "neurodivergent," in her thesis at the Univeristy of Technology, Sydney (Singer, 1998). Singer's thesis challenged the early ideas of these brain abnormalities being seen as deficits to a person and moreso as a success in human diversity. Singer also defines the social implications and social movements that occurred towards redefining neurodiversity.

Harvey Blume then popularized the term in a 1998 article published by The Atlantic (National Conference for Community and Justice). Harvey helped exemplify Singer's work. Singer eliminated the stigma behind the more "biological" definition of neurodivergence to an inclusive one that subtracted the idea of it being an "illness" or "disability" that made someone "less" than the average person. Her thesis took the values pioneered by Sinclair and dismantled the negative rhetoric surrounding neurodiversity, before neurodiversity became an actual term.

Why is this all important?

The movement for neurodivergent individuals started early in time, and I wanted to recognize the figures in society that fought for their rights and normalize the neurodivergent existence. Contextualizing the history is important to understand where the term "neurodivergent" originated from.

Now that we have talked briefly about the origins of neurdiversity, we will create our own unique definition of neurodiversity, similarly to the figures previously mentioned. The purpose of this is to create a term that does not include the words "disorder," "deficit, " or anything that suggests a person is "less." This definition will guide us through the project.

Neurodiversity can be defined as a celebration, movement, or a schema in which individuals with different cognitive abilities and intelligences come together.

Disability or different abilities

I argue that they articulate words

beautifully in their minds that have

been stigmatized and minimized

to "not normal" too different to function with

the rest but I argue that they weave human

emotion between their fingertips like crocheting

a scarf for you and I to wear and it is warm

and comforting and colorful

Artist Recognition: Jon Adams

"Everything could be art, including my own experience and intimate being" - Jon Adams

Jon Adams is a British autistic and dyslexic artist, geologist, advocate and illustrator who discovered he was on the spectrum in late adulthood (Autism Europe). His work was inspired by his passion for the natural world and seeing the world through his own unique lens. Adams explained that, "I’ve always drawn, created or made ever since I can remember, but I was especially drawn to understanding the natural world...I had no idea then that this was through the lens of an autistic dyslexic person with the gift of synesthesia” (Autism Europe). This is a neurological condition that causes one sense to activate another, or a "second sense." For example, hearing a word and seeing a color shortly after" (WebMD).

Jon Adam's Work(s)

The Konfirm Project

Jon Adam kickstarted this project after his diagnosis at age 52. After a meeting with the director of the Cambridge University's Autism Researcher Center, Adams was asked to be a resident artist, he started Konfirm. The project's purpose was for Adams to "set out on a personal, artistic, and scientific investigation of his own Asperger's Syndrome" (Arts Catalyst). Adam's project can be seen as a long-term science experiment and conversations (if you will).

"Prototype" #1

"Prototype" #2

Reflection Pieces

lights

i remembered them saying that the lights in the room

reminded them of the stars at night or the aurora borealis

they flickered on and off like my delayed reactions to the

elephant in the room, which were actually the lights that

blinked and raved around the room like a disco ball,

isn't the decorum off? disco balls belong in night clubs

and raves and everybody seems to be looking right at it

like these flashing lights aren't blinding as the sun and so

i do not address the elephant in the room,

instead i just leave, to which i feel the

stares crawling behind

the neck

lose an appendage everytime i hide

if i lost an appendage every time i hid things like

my genuine confusion at the team building activity

meant to bond us or the jitters i get from eye contact

for longer than ten seconds i would be an apparition

floating from person to person as invisible as the mask

i seem to have covered in forced smiles and unnatural

dialogue that cuts my tongue into pieces until i am forced

to flee and come back and swallow the words that hurt me

nodding my head

in agreeance perhaps a type of passivity but so long as

i can maneuver through this conversation like yarn woven

ever so smoothly i can come off as, i guess, "normal" until

yarn becomes too knotted like my vocal chords and tongue

at some point nodding my head in agreeance does not work

and i cannot hide fatigue and confusion and the urge to end

this conversation and nod my head elsewhere

"alexithymia"

there's this sensation of trembles that start at my fingertips

and work their way up my arm, shivering as if i am frigid,

but the forbidden creature raises the temperature and my

face becomes warm and i look around in hopes to bring

clarity to why my body and mind are experiencing this phenomena?

i wish it could be as easily labeled like colors and food products

and relationships (sometimes) and textbook definitions

that i flip through to make sense of myself

and the people around me

that i want to understand just as much

as i would like to understand myself, but

labeling the emotion can feel like a video game

or a word scramble or scattered puzzle pieces

that i cannot bring myself to ever finish

to which the heat and heartbeat echo

throughout the rest of my body

so when i furrow my eyebrows in a daze

i am writing mental sticky notes

writing labels of the emotions you

were walking me through

[it was anger]

Dyslexic Artist Recognition: Dean Bragonier

Dean Bragonier, created the nonprofit NoticeAbility to help young students with dyslexia harness their true capabilities without the stigmatizing and unaccommodating environment of the traditional school system. Bragonier goes onto discuss important statistics such as the rate of conduct problems among dyslexic individuals, but also the statistics of successful adults who are dyslexic.

Find Bragonier's website here:  https://www.noticeability.org/about-us/ 

Reflection Pieces

according to science

science told me that the cogs in my left brain were

dysfunctional and impaired and spider webbed but

i never believed that to be so and even if that were to

be true, why not hold my left hand instead?

please love that which cannot be altered, accept the hand i reach out

as i use the right to write my rite of passage because

according to science my right hand can make watercolors

from the sunset and sonnets from the sunrise, so let me

harness this love and grip my own strength with my right hand

ambidexterity i suppose is not my forte, according to science

but if i ask you to hold both hands, could you be gentle?

versatility

those eyes go beyond what they say

it does not mean that such eyes

classify as illiterate, they are more

than the stigma that labels as

"illiterate" and unintelligent,

in fact "learning disability" that sure does cause

learning difficulties has turned those pupils into

hawk eyes that can solve riddles and pick locks

and see four leaf clovers for they believe in the luck

that made them their own superpower

so rather than labeling them as the problem child

or the lost cause that will never amount to anything

take a deeper look into those eyes and tell them what

you see

the record playing track

if you were to hear the same song on repeat, you'd eventually learn the lyrics. these lyrics will become symphony and committed to memory because repitition is key, isn't it? they will eventually become mantra, chant it back to yourself in the mirror as your reflection stares back at you and sings the symphony that you've belted at the top of your lungs.

except these songs were your reminder that there has been one too many misunderstandings, that you are not trying hard enough, that perhaps you are not as smart enough, that you won't amount to much, like the "gifted kids" who were told they were a pleasure to work with, but you were told to be the lost cause just because you required a litte more

and suddenly your favorite song was the one that had tore you down in the first place, to which verses and the melody and the chorus become mantra in your head, a self-fulfilling prophecy that you were your worst enemy and so long as the lyrics were etched in your mind you would be nothing but that lost cause,

not until you switch off the sound and write your own song, hum it to yourself and block out the world and the mantra that brought you madness

and find discovery in your new melody

Artist Recognition and Appreciation: Michael Phelps

Phelps was diagnosed with ADHD in the sixth grade and was described as difficult when it came to the classroom setting. Debbie, Phelp's mother, was his biggest form of support when it came to his ADHD. Rather than give up on Phelps, she accommodated to his needs in the classroom and tried different ways to teach him effectively. Phelp's interest in swimming happened to be pique interest to him, to which Debbie would find ways to implement his love for swimming into his educational life. For example, she would frame math questions with swimming to make learning more enjoyable for him. His love for swimming grew and he eventually was taken off his ADHD medication, as his love for the sport helped with his ADHD.

Reflection Pieces

"did you ever try creating a planner?"

how do i know that thirty minutes will be enough time for me to complete my morning routine? seven o' clock to seven thirty feels like an impossible time frame given that thirty minutes either feels like thirty seconds or thirty hours, and the thought of having to write down verbatim "7:00 am - 7:30 am" brings me enough dread, do you know that even opening up the planner feels like a task?

and i wonder why the boxes are so small? how many tasks could i fit in a small square box? the thought of having to think through my day and plan it out in itself feels like that very small square box that looks like confinement and mental jailtime that not even i can bail out of, because i'll probably get carried away trying to find my way out, the escape room i cannot find out of

and so i zone back into the present and look at the planner in front of me,

i had spent about twenty three minutes with an open planner and had planned: nothing

to the things i've started but never finished

the abandoned book i started in 2014 sitting somewhere in a lonely google document

collecting dust like the incomplete sketches and prototypes of my latest innovation that

i happened to brainstorm the entire outline before i went to sleep, but i had forgotten the

following morning like the dream i just realized i had [what dream?] and the planner i planned

on using, [i hadn't opened in a week], to the stacks of paper that towers my height that i throw into

the air, airplaning to the ground, and i lay among the chaos, and take in the things i've started

but never finished

flow / fog

[flow]

the 3 am kernel of an idea that pops

in the bustling part of my head that i zone

in on like a microscope, inspect its sharp edges

and dips and holes until i can piece together

the mental prototype and its schema [let me grab a pen]

till the vision becomes concrete in my head

and i can press the play button and enter flow

and let the music pulse through my full body

[fog]

i can be my own dichotomy from time to time

a mental fixation to mental fogginess so here's

"to the things i've started but never finished"

i hope to see you soon in [flow] when the visions

of finished products bring myself enough pleasure

to reembark on your conquest and i can proudly

execute the hundreds of business plans that swirl

through my mind and say i am indeed my own superpower

internal monologue

good morning, i am rising from my slumber to which i sink

back into the sheets and go over last nights thoughts on what

i'd do today, but first i'll lay in bed for thirty minutes and move

onto the next set of thoughts like i am my own interviewer asking

myself the questions of how i envision today going

freshen up and grab my keys and strut out the door [did i forget my wallet?]

the patterns on the concrete catch my focus, don't step on the crack or

break your mothers back, and i've passed the coffee shop in the midst

of my daze [turn around] and coffee beans wake up my senses, i think

i am fully awake but the starbucks menu has never made sense to me

superpower

i wouldn't choose a different lense to see the world through

it's beautiful and a kalediscope of color and views

and sensations and sure many confusions but i

would not trade them for anything else,

the "ADHD" walk of fame to which i may bump

into tables and shoulders and lamppost and the

classic turn around "where was i going?" in spite

of wearing glasses, i am one of many with a superpower

Neurodiversity is what makes the world go round. During the research process, I've learned that many figures in society are actually neurodivergent and I had no idea. This only reinforced the values that drove this project: that no matter neurotypical or neurodivergent, people are capable of anything. This especially goes for our neurodivergent folk: they are a walking superpower so long as they believe it, and hear it from people around them. Support the people around you and everybody can thrive.

Thank you to the Arts Scholars faculty for supporting the making of this project!

References

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