Cite
Armstrong, Thomas. The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Differently Wired Brain. Lifelong Books. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Lifelong, 2011.
Jeremy
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FirstAuthor:: Armstrong, Thomas
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Title:: The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Differently Wired Brain
Year:: 2011
Citekey:: armstrongPowerNeurodiversityUnleashing2011
itemType:: book
Publisher:: Da Capo Lifelong
Location:: Cambridge, MA
ISBN:: 978-0-7382-1524-2 978-0-7382-1354-5
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Abstract
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Notes
# Jeremy’s Review
A helpful book to help understand the power of neurodiversity. The author attempts to take a more nuanced approach to the topic. The goal is to re-frame the conversation from focusing on the negatives to focusing on the person above all. The main thrust of the book is to look the brain as we look at biodiversity and ethnic diversity. The
# Reading Notes
Preface
“This process of investigating the positive dimensions of people with negative labels can make a world of difference in helping them achieve success in life.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.x)
- positivity begets positivity
“Up until now we’ve tended to use heavily negative medicalized language to speak of brain diversity but generally positive naturalistic language to talk about cultural diversity and biodiversity. For the sake of our well-being and health as a society and culture as a whole, it’s essential that we start using more positive language to talk about the brain in its many variations.” (Armstrong, 2010, p. xi)
- it’s not all sunshine and rainbow, but it isn’t thunderstorms either
“It is an understatement to say that these seven conditions bring with them untold suffering for those who have them and for those who are caretakers and loved ones. But we’ve become one-sided in our disease-based orientation to brain differences and need to spend time exploring the positive side to correct this imbalance.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.xi)
Chapter 1: Neurodiversity: A Concept Whose Time has Come
“The lessons we have learned about biodiversity and cultural and racial diversity need to be applied to the human brain” (Armstrong, 2010, p.3)
“diversity among brains is just as wonderfully enriching as biodiversity and the diversity among cultures and races” (Armstrong, 2010, p.3)
“One Harvard psychiatrist, John J. Ratey, has written a book titled Shadow Syndromes: The Mild Forms of Major Mental Disorders That Sabotage Us, suggesting that there may be “subclinical” varieties of psychiatric illness that exist undetected in many people. That is, they don’t meet the criteria for a full-fledged psychiatric diagnosis but are nevertheless present as “hidden” disorders.[2] It seems to me that we’re moving toward a way when virtually every single individual alive may be regarded as afflicted with neurologically based mental disorders to one degree or another.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.4) (ref. 2)
- If everyone has something then we are diverse, not different
“Yet there is some truth to the fact that each group vies for funding and public support in part by emphasizing the negative aspects of their particular disorder.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.5)
- Negativity gets money
“In a sense, neurodiversity draws some of its vitality from the new movement in positive psychology spearheaded by former American Psychological Association president Martin Seligman, who suggests that psychology has spent too much time focusing on what is wrong with the human personality and now must research the positive side of humanity.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.4) (ref. 4)
Eight Principals of Neurodiversity
”Principle l: The Human Brain Works More Like an Ecosystem than a Machine” (Armstrong, 2010, p.9)
“The primary metaphor used to describe the workings of the brain for the past four hundred years has been the machine. The first person to use this kind of mechanistic language in describing human functioning was seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes, who wrote, “They will regard this body as a machine which, having been made by the hand of God, is incomparably better ordered than any machine that can be devised by man."" (Armstrong, 2010, p.9) (ref. 7)
“that the human brain is not a machine; it’s a biological organism.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.9)
“The body of a neuron, or brain cell, looks like an exotic tropical tree witch numerous branches. The electric crackling of neuronal networks mimics heat lightning in a forest. The undulations of neurotransmitters moving between neurons resemble the ocean tides.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.10)
“Nobel Prize-winning biologist Gerald Edelman has viewed the human brain as a kind of Darwinian jungle, where groups of neurons compete against each other for predominance in responding to environmental stimuli. He writes, “The brain is in no sense like any kind of instruction machine, like a computer. Each individual’s brain is more like a unique rainforest, teeming with growth, decay, competition, diversity, and selection.[10]” (Armstrong, 2010, p.10) (ref. 10)
“there is a form of dementia that destroys anterior (front) areas of the brain, and patients with the disorder lose the ability to speak. However, it also results in posterior (back) areas of the brain being able to function with even greater strength as compensation, sometimes causing a torrent of creativity in art or music.[11]” (Armstrong, 2010, p.10) (ref. 11)
“Principle #2: Human Beings and Human Brains Exist Along Continuums of Competence” (Armstrong, 2010, p.11)
“We’re all just a few hallucinations, speech patterns, and genes away from schizophrenia. And the schizophrenic is just a few typical perceptions, clear conversations, and genes away from normality.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.12)
“Principle #3: Human Competence Is Defined by the Values of the Culture to Which You Belong” (Armstrong, 2010, p.13)
“It may be too soon to know exactly what those bases will be, but I would like to suggest that one reason each of the mental conditions we will explore has been defined as abnormal by our society is because it violates one or more important social values or virtues. As former American Psychological Association president Nicholas Hobbs once put it, specifically focusing on the labeling and classification of children, “A good case can be made for the position that protection of the community is a primary function of classifying and labeling children who are different or deviant.” By specifying precisely which human behaviors represent abnormal functioning, society essentially upholds those social values that it regards as sacrosanct. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, for example, appears to violate the Protestant work ethic in America. As Hobbs explains, “According to this doctrine… God’s chosen ones are inspired to attain to positions of wealth and power through the rational and efficient use of their time and energy, through their willingness to control distracting impulses, and to delay gratification in the service of productivity, and through their thriftiness and ambition.”[15] Distractible, impulsive, and hyperactive children violate all of these values.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.14) (ref. 15)
- Societies values can dictate what is weird or not
”Principle #4: Whether You Are Regarded As Disabled or Gifted Depends Largely on When and Where You Were Born” (Armstrong, 2010, p.15)
“Each civilization also defines its own forms of giftedness. In ancient cultures that depended on religious rituals for social cohesion, it might have been the schizophrenics (who heard the voices of the gods) or the obsessive compulsives (who carried out the precise rituals) who were the gifted ones.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.15)
“Principle #5: Success in Life Is Based on Adapting One’s Brain to the Needs of the Surrounding Environment” (Armstrong, 2010, p.15)
“Consequently, an important part of being successful in the world involves adapting to the environment that we’re given, not one that existed a hundred years ago or one that should exist today.)” (Armstrong, 2010, p.16)
- There is the ideal and there is reality
“In today’s world we don’t have the time to wait around for a random mutation to occur. We have to do whatever we can to fit ourselves into the surrounding environment if we want to survive.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.16)
- This reminds me of all of the psychiatrists and MDs complaining about nurture vs. nature and withholding medicine to fix people another way.
”Principle #6: Success in Life Also Depends on Modifying Your Surrounding Environment to Fit the Needs of Your Unique Brain (Niche Construction)” (Armstrong, 2010, p.16)
“What this can mean for neurodiverse individuals is that instead of always having to adapt to a static, fixed, or “normal” environment, it’s possible for them (and their caregivers) to alter the environment to match the needs of their own unique brains. In this way, they can be more of who they really are.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.17-18)
- Change your environment if you can…find your community to thrive in
”Principle #7: Niche Construction Includes Career and Lifestyle Choices, Assistive Technologies, Human Resources, and Other Life-Enhancing Strategies Tailored to the Specific Needs of a Neurodiverse Individual.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.19)
“lt’s important for individuals coping with their neurological differences to see that others like themselves have also struggled and ultimately succeeded on their own terms.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.20)
- Find people who have succeeded already and replicate if possible
”Principle #8: Positive Niche Construction Directly Modifies the Brain, Which in Turn Enhances Its Ability to Adapt to the Environment” (Armstrong, 2010, p.21)
“We know that environmental adversity (including family conflict and parent criminality) is associated with a greater risk of ADHD?"" (Armstrong, 2010, p.22) (ref. 21)
- Reminds me of the A.C.E. mental health score sheet
“The term
“The term “neurodiversity” is not a sentimental ploy to help people with mental illness and their caregivers “feel good” about their disorders. Rather, it is a powerful concept, backed by substantial research from brain science, evolutionary psychology, anthropology, and other fields, that can help revolutionize the way we look at mental illness.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.25)
- Neurodiversity is hard work (don’t know really what I meant when I wrote that)
Chapter 2: The Joy of the Hyperactive Brain
“But because he was in a different context, with different expectations and a different environment, his tremendous vitality went from being an asset to becoming a deficit. In the context of neurodiversity, we might argue that Eddie, with his joyfully hyperactive brain, was radically out of his niche in the resource room. He was like a fish out of water.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.28-29)
“Research psychologists quietly studied ADHD in their universities during the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s. But it wasn’t until the late 1980s when ADHD really began to take off as a widely known disorder. This was largely due to the founding of the parent advocacy group CHADD (Children with Attention Deficit Disorder) in 1987.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.30)
“Although there are far more males diagnosed with ADHD than females, the primarily inattentive type has been increasingly observed in girls.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.31)
“The primary treatments for ADHD are adaptive in nature and include the use of medications, especially psychostimulants like Ritalin and Adderall, and behavior modification programs in the home and school.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.31)
“Over the past thirty years, hundreds of research studies have been published seeking to locate the precise nature of this disorder and its connections with the brain. Many of these studies have centered around the relationship between the prefrontal lobes of the neocortex (those areas of the brain behind the forehead that control planning, problem solving, and the restraint of impulses) and areas of the brain that are responsible for emotional expression and motor coordination, including the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. There appears to be a disruption in the circuitry between the restraint and planning areas of the brain (the prefrontal lobes) and the emotional and motor areas of the brain (the basal ganglia and the cerebellum). In very simple terms, the restraint areas of the brain do not appear to be keeping the emotional and motor areas of the brain in check, resulting in symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.31-32)
“These studies suggest that kids labeled ADHD are, in fact, better described as being late bloomers and not kids with defective brains. Many kids labeled ADHD simply act younger than their peers and need more time to mature.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.32-33)
“In the field of developmental biology there is a concept called neoteny, which is Latin for “holding youth.” Neoteny refers to the retaining of childlike qualities into later development. A good example of this is the well-known picture of Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue at the camera.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.33)
“He [Einstein] wrote, “I sometimes ask myself, how did it come that I was the one to develop the theory of relativity. The reason, I think, is that a normal adult never stops to think about problems of space and time. These are things which he has thought of as a child. But my intellectual development was retarded, as a result of which I began to wonder about space and time only when I had already grown up.[5]” (Armstrong, 2010, p.33) (ref. 5)
“It could be that children labeled ADHD, with their lag in brain development, may be the leading edge in evolution, demonstrating childlike patterns of behavior, including playfulness, spontaneity, and humor, that need to be retained into adulthood if we’re going to continue to survive and thrive as a species.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.34)
- Always be curious. Also, faith like a child
“If we lose the ability to be flexible as we grow into adulthood, for example, we’d have a civilization of inflexible people, which could be disastrous in the event of a global showdown that threatened us with nuclear war. Thus, flexibility, carefully nurtured into adulthood, provides a kind of protective influence for international stability.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.35)
“Another neurodiverse aspect of ADHD involves brain chemistry. Although many brain chemicals are involved in the disorder, it seems that one in particular, dopamine, is particularly important and appears not to function properly. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter (a chemical that facilitates communication of nerve impulses throughout the brain) associated with, among other things, motor activity, motivation, and reward seeking. People with ADHD seem to have lower levels of dopamine in their brains, thus causing a kind of chronic hunger for stimulation. This helps to explain their need for constant motor activity, impulsivity, and thrill seeking” (Armstrong, 2010, p.35)
“Recently, researchers have identified one variant (or allele) of a gene that is involved in the production of dopamine receptors (the part of a neuron that receives neurotransmitters from other brain cells). This allele (referred to as the Dopamine D4 Gene 7-repeat allele, or DRD4 for short) is more prevalent among children diagnosed with ADHD than in those without the disorder. It has been called the “novelty-seeking gene” and is also prevalent in individuals who enjoy activities such as skydiving, bungee jumping, and other high-intensity thrills.[10]” (Armstrong, 2010, p.36) (ref. 10)
“A recent study suggested that DRD4 arose comparatively recently in human evolution, between ten and forty thousand years ago.[11] The chief investigator in this report, Robert Moyzis, professor of biological chemistry at the University of California, Irvine, noted, “Our data show that the creation of the 7R allele was an unusual, spontaneous mutation, which became an advantage for humans.”[12] Novelty seeking was particularly important at this stage in the development of human beings, when the earliest forms of culture and civilization were being created. Those individuals who possessed the gene variant might have been more likely to explore new territory, discover new food sources, or create new forms of social organization, and thus have been in a better position to survive and pass their genes on to future generations than those without the allele.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.36-37) (ref. 11,12)
- ADHD is adventurous
“One author of several books on ADHD, Thom Hartmann (himself diagnosed with the disorder), has used an interesting metaphor to describe this advantage. He has said that people with ADHD are hunters in a farmer’s world. The hunter is always moving, always vigilant, always tuned into his instincts while seeking food and shelter and trying to avoid becoming prey.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.37)
- Ideas of settlers vs. pioneers
“Author and educator Terry Orlick writes about his family’s experience in two cultures: “If I take my daughter out to eat in North America, she is expected to sit quietly and wait (like an adult), even if there are all kinds of interesting objects and areas and people to explore… Now if I take her out to a village feast in Papua New Guinea, none of those restrictions are placed on her. The villagers don’t expect children sit quietly for an hour while orders are taken and adults chat. Children are free to do what is natural for them, thus eliminating potential hassle for every-one.“’[15]” (Armstrong, 2010, p.38-39) (ref. 15)
“The ADHD person, for example, is considered impulsive. For the creative person, we call this spontaneity, and it’s considered to be a good thing….Similarly, the ADHD person is said to be distractible. With the creative person this is called having a divergent mind, and is seen as one of the hallmarks of a great mind…Finally, the ADHD person is diagnosed as being hyperactive. This is the vitality of the artist or scientist, who is constantly on the prowl for the answer to a creative problem.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.39-40)
“Children (and adults) labeled ADHD are actually very good at paying attention. They excel in paying attention to what they’re not supposed to be paying attention to! This is called “incidental attention” and is another trait of the creative person.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.40)
“The fact of the matter is that children and adults with ADHD have a different attentional style than neurotypical individuals. They have a “roaming” attention that can notice many different things in a short period of time and a “homing” attention that can fasten onto one thing of great interest and stay with it for a long period of time. It does a great disservice to those diagnosed with ADHD to say that they have a deficit in attention, when they are actually good at two different forms of attention and have problems primarily with one other form, sometimes referred to as “central-task” attention, where sustained attention must be paid to routine (and often boring) events that have often been externally imposed.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.41)
“We’ve seen, for example, that the brains of children labeled ADHD are often understimulated. This means that one of the worst environments for ADHD kids would be a room that lacks much stimulation, including a boring classroom. One ADHD researcher, Sydney Zentall at Purdue University, discovered that researchers could calm down and focus hyperactive children by providing them with a highly stimulating environment in school. She rigged up classrooms with music, color, movement, and interaction and found that the kids’ symptoms decreased[20] In a sense, they were receiving “educational Ritalin."" (Armstrong, 2010, p.42) (ref. 20)
- Environment does matter, if for no other time than the present situation an ADHDer may find themselves in at any given moment.
“In a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, scientists discovered that children as young as five showed a significant reduction in ADHD symptoms when they were engaged with nature. The more natural and “wilderness-like” the setting, the more the children’s behavior improved.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.43)
-“She recommends giving ADHD kids “green time” before any activity that requires attention. “For example, if your child has trouble sitting still in church,” she notes, “send him to play ball on the lawn for 20 minutes before you go. If you have a garden, enlist your child’s help with gardening. Pay a family visit to the park or a nature preserve on the weekend.[22]” (Armstrong, 2010, p.44) (ref. 22)
- Drikuo - Green Time
“Rough-and-tumble play is another important niche activity that ADHD kids (particularly boys) need to be involved with in order to diminish or eliminate symptoms. Jaak Panksepp, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo, has suggested that the increased number of ADHD children being diagnosed in our country may largely reflect the fact that more and more of our children “no longer have adequate spaces and opportunities to express this natural biological need to play with each other in vigorous rough-and-tumble ways, each and every day.[23]” (Armstrong, 2010, p.44) (ref. 23)
“Physical movement, change, novelty, high stimulation, and hands-on activity are all factors that make up some of the ingredients of good niche construction for people with ADHD.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.46)
“Psychologist Kathleen Nadeau, another ADHD adult, told ABC News, “ADD people are high-energy and incredibly good brainstormers. They will often happily work 12 to 15 hours by choice. The business community should not fear ADD. Instead, they should see that they have a potential gold mine here.”)” (Armstrong, 2010, p.47)
“Establishing a compatible niche for oneself does not preclude taking medications. For some individuals, medications provide an important “platform” on which a positive niche can be created.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.50)
- Even though you take medicine, you still have to do the work.
“In a new world of neurodiversity, people with ADHD may discover that their greatest improvements in mental health come about not so much through drugs but through changing the ecology of their outer surroundings to match the brisk and ebullient nature of their joyful hyperactive brains.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.51)
Chapter 10: The Future of Neurodiversity
“Among a neurodiverse population, there are many assets and skills that are literally being thrown away because employers have not recognized the abilities that these people have that can contribute to the success of their businesses.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.205)
“Fifteen hundred years ago, a Chinese emperor from the Tang dynasty recognized the importance of valuing and utilizing all human resources when he wrote:
A wise emperor… knows how to chose the right person for the right task. He is like a skillful carpenter who knows to use straight timber to make shafts, curved timber to make wheels, long timber to make beams, and short timber to make posts. Wood of all shapes and lengths is thus fully utilized. The emperor should make use of personnel in the same way, using the wise for their resourcefulness, the ignorant for their strength, the brave for their daring, and the timid for their prudence. As a good carpenter does not discard any timber, so a wise emperor does not discard any gentleman.[5]” (Armstrong, 2010, p.206) (ref. 5)
“However, we’re not just talking here about throwing neurodiverse people into the workforce without support and hoping that their abilities will serve as a life raft. An important key in ensuring their vocational success is niche construction: creating conditions in the workplace that minimize disabilities and maximize abilities.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.207)
“Unfortunately, many mental health organizations, both public and private, focus more of their energies on treatment than on job placement or training. And many times the sorts of jobs that are made available to those with mental disabilities are minimum-wage jobs that deal with what advocates for the mentally ill call the three fs: food, filing, and filth (e.g., custodial work)” (Armstrong, 2010, p.207-208)
“The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities in the workplace. And many of these accommodations are relatively easy to provide: flexible work hours, time off for therapy appointments, a quiet place to work, and job coaches, among other resources.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.208)
“A second layer to ableism consists in its institutional enforcement through the medical model. In the medical model, neurodiverse individuals are seen as having “illness” or “disease” as opposed to health and well-being. They need to fit into the world around them, or be shut away in a treatment facility that will define them in terms of what they can’t do.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.209)
“The average of 12, 6, 8, 9, and 15 is 10, yet 10 isn’t even represented in any of the original numbers-it’s a new number, something else besides the actual reality of what is given. In the same way, there really isn’t an “average” person anywhere; “average” merely represents a statistical artifact. For something that really doesn’t have any tangible existence, the idea of “normal” certainly has been invested with a great deal of power in our society!” (Armstrong, 2010, p.210-211)
“In the neurodiversity debate there has been a tendency to divide the world into two groups: “neurodiverse” and “neurotypical” (i.e., normal) people. This is a false dichotomy. The truth is that there are no neurotypical people. Each person represents a unique combination of genes and brain cells.” (Armstrong, 2010, p.212)
- Everyone’s brain is a little different, which means there is diversity. If everyone’s brain is diverse, we already have neurodiversity.
“As Judy Singer, the originator of the term “neurodiversity,” puts it on her Web site, “If the neurodiversity movement is to mature, it cannot hide its collective head in the sand, but must look at the idea that not all Nature’s experiments are inherently good.[18]” (Armstrong, 2010, p.217) (ref. 18)