Ph.D. Thomas Armstrong PhD - The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Differently Wired Brain

PRAISE FOR

The Power of Neurodiversity

This quietly spoken book is at its strongest when examining the ideology itself and outlining the arguments in its favor. It is sensible in examining how other cultures, past and present, have accepted forms of neurodiversity, and it is wise in its critique of the use of normative standardizations to identify objectives in education and society in general.

Times Higher Education Supplement

Armstrong uses neurodiversity to encompass a new way of thinking about a variety of disabilities... by focusing on their potential benefits, rather than their problems... useful and uplifting.

Library Journal

Armstrong argues that there is no normal brain or normal mental capability and that we are making a serious mistake in assuming that the kinds of differences we see in people with conditions like autism or dyslexia involve only deficits. People with these conditions also have strengths, he emphasizes, and by focusing on these, rather than on the labels, we can find the modes of learning and living that can help them thrive.

Publishers Weekly

In this engaging, accessible book, Armstrong offers a thoughtful consideration of cognitive diversity, and many practical suggestions for maximizing the potential of, and increasing respect for, those who are differently brained.

Kathleen Seidel, creator of Neurodiversity.com

An engaging and provocative look into the emerging societal conversation about neurological diversity. Our country has adapted to many new ideas over the last century; acceptance of the broad scope of neurodiversity represents the next step forward.

Ari Neeman, president of
The Autism Self Advocacy Network

ALSO BY THOMAS ARMSTRONG:

The Human Odyssey

In Their Own Way

7 Kinds of Smart

The Myth of the A.D.D. Child

Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom

Unleashing the Advantages of
Your Differently Wired Brain

Thomas Armstrong, PhD

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Copyright 2010 by Thomas Armstrong, PhD

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information, address Da Capo Press, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142.

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Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

First Da Capo Press edition 2010. First published as Neurodiversity: Discovering the Extraordinary Gifts of Autism, ADHD, Dyxlexia, and Other Brain Differences.
First Da Capo Press paperback edition 2011.

HC ISBN: 978-0-7382-1354-5
PB ISBN: 978-0-7382-1524-2
E-Book ISBN: 978-0-7382-1553-2

Published by Da Capo Press
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As the paperback edition of The Power of Neurodiversity goes to press, we are witnessing the expansion of what Ive called in the book our culture of disabilities. Currently, the newest version of the psychiatrists bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM 5) is being prepared for publication in 2013. This manual, which influences not only psychiatrists, but also mental health professionals, the legal profession, and the field of education, threatens to add new categories of disorder to its already long list of mental disorders. Among the manuals sharpest critics is Dr. Allen Frances who chaired the Task Force that prepared the previous version, the DSM IV. Frances contends that normality is an endangered species with this new version, and that the DSM 5 will probably create millions of new diagnoses by including such proposed disorders as Psychosis Risk Syndrome, Minor Neurocognitive Disorder, Binge Eating Disorder, and Temper Dysfunctional Disorder with Dysphoria. Allen contends that pharmaceutical companies are likely to welcome these new illnesses into its fold. In Psychiatric Times, he writes: There would be massive overtreatment with medications that are unnecessary, expensive, and often quite harmful.

At the same time, however, there are positive developments in the emerging field of neurodiversity that can hopefully counter at least some of the negative influences of our disability culture. Politically, weve seen the appointment by President Obama of a key neurodiversity advocate, Ari Neeman, to the National Council on Disability, which advises the president and Congress on matters concerning disability. Neeman, who himself has Aspergers syndrome, is an autism rights activist who believes that autism is a neurological difference that should be respected, not a disease to be cured.

On the technological front, there has been a vast expansion in the past two years of new applications for such devices as the iPhone and the iPad; apps that can assist neurodiverse individuals in creating positive niches for themselves. One mother of a thirteen-year-old with Down syndrome was interviewed in Great Schools, and observed that as much as he struggles with reading, Aidans a wizard with the iPhone. He picked up his uncles iPhone one day, and without anyone telling him how to do it, he found and figured out every game app on it (and there were a lot). The touch screen and the apps are intuitive to him in a way that a keyboard is not.

Finally, there is an aesthetic dimension to neurodiversity that is being explored by such artists as Ali Hossaini, a renowned artist, philosopher, and media expert, who is developing a video installation entitled Neurodiversity: The Autism Project, which will seek to simulate many of the sensory experiences of autism, so that neurotypical individuals can begin to understand the world in which the neurodiverse lives. In these positive developments, we can begin to make out a subtle but significant shift in how mental disabilities are viewed, and there is room for optimism that neurodiversity will continue to grow as a concept, change attitudes concerning mental illness, and ultimately improve the lives of those who are differently wired.