Beyond Labels: Empowering NeuroDivergent Individuals Through Inclusive Support & Why Disclosure & Medical Diagnosis Shouldn't Be a Requirement

Why NeuroDivergent Empowerment is not about the diagnosis or brain type but about advocating for each individual's needs to succeed.

In my work with organizations that want to be more Neuro-Inclusive, focusing on individual needs for success rather than categorizing based on brain types has been a more effective approach (than depending on assumptions and stereotypes about people).

When looking at diverse minds in this way, the labels are secondary to the person's needs, desires, strengths, and abilities, allowing us to support them non-pathologically (and without asking people to expose themselves to risk and harm, jump through hoops, or “prove” themselves “worthy” of support). This isn’t a compassionate way to treat people asking for help.

“I need help!” a person might say, and then get a reply like “PROVE IT!” from someone simultaneously refusing aid.

Shouldn’t every individual, regardless of their brain type, be entitled to compassion and support?

Forcing NeuroDivergent People (many of who are already more vulnerable than the general population) to make themselves even more vulnerable by disclosing is not compassionate and falsely assumes every NeuroDivergent Person has the same access, desire, or need for medical confirmation of their experiences.

There are some forms of NeuroDivergence that don’t have a medical name or diagnosis (because NeuroDivergence and NeuroDiversity aren’t limited to differences found in medical textbooks, even if those are the main ones discussed online).

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People may not disclose (for a few reasons).

One reason I discourage organizations from being overly focused on labels instead of needs is that many NeuroDivergent People may not disclose their specific differences or diagnoses.

Disclosures are complicated.

Some NeuroDivergent People may feel uncomfortable sharing their private information (because doing so can be risky), worried that doing so may harm them—especially if their specific difference is heavily stigmatized or misunderstood -if the person even knows they are NeuroDivergent.

Learning I was Autistic and about the NeuroDiversity Pardigrim led me to understand that I'd been pressured my entire life (by other people who assumed that everyone in the world had the same brain) into denying my own needs.

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Getting to know my own needs.

I started getting to know myself by evaluating my experiences and my needs, logging my triggers, and being mindful of avoiding them (or taking time to recover from them when they were unavoidable), and my life got immensely better.

I was "less of an ass-whole" and happier and less stressed in general.

In the early years of this part of my journey, I was led primarily by one question:

"Am I doing this because I truly want to, OR am I doing this because I feel it is expected of me" giving myself permission to say, "no" to items that met the second criteria.

It was a powerful question that led me to a lot of soul-searching and self-exploration that might not have happened had I not learned I was Autistic (because many Autistic People my age and older are missed unless we find ourselves in a mental health crisis as I did).

This question helped me to peel back the layers of compulsive conformity and the unnamed traumas I'd experienced in life, giving validity to the pain and struggle I'd encountered before knowing (and in part due to not knowing for so many years).

Peeling Back Layers

My self-discovery journey has been kin to peeling back the layers of an onion.

An assortment of onion layers and onion rings.

Autism was the first layer, learning what being Autistic means to me personally (my need for structure, my tendency towards monotropism, how I communicate, and my sensory and motor differences).  

A few years later, I learned about being ADHD, that I'm Gender Fluid, how past traumas from earlier in my life manifest in my life today, and many more aspects of Self (that I may never share publically). Over the years, I've shared enough of myself (perhaps more than I should have in some instances).

No forced disclosures!

We shouldn't have to expose ourselves like that to validate our needs (and we may not have words to describe our experiences).

I don't need to display every aspect of my life and every personal experience - this is something my past Self didn't know (that some things aren't meant for the internet).

While I openly share that I am Autistic and ADHD (because these are more straightforward to explain/easier understood by most people), there are aspects of myself and my NeuroDivergent Identity that I would not share in a workplace (or with anyone outside of my closest inner circle).

Because of the heavy stigmatization and margin for misunderstanding by others of some Neuro-Variences, I can only assume there are other NeuroDivergent People whose experiences are similar.

A person in a pink button up shirt, with pink nails, holds up a notebook with the word “no Comment” written on it in black ink

Some NeuroDivergent People don't know they are NeuroDivergent.

Due to this hesitation (or inability) to share specific terms, diagnoses, or NeuroTypes, it is much more helpful to support people by asking them what they need to be the best version of themselves (in each environment, meeting, or space they enter—because people's needs can fluctuate).

Like many others, I didn't discover my NeuroDivergent identity until later in life.

Now, almost eight years into my journey of self-discovery (after learning I was Autistic at the age of 29), I continue to learn and grow, understanding more about myself and what being Autistic (and NeuroDivergent in multiple ways) means for me.

At the time I was diagnosed Autistic, I was almost thirty. I had been in the workforce for over 18 years (because I started working in the family business, a hair salon, when I was 11).

Back when I had no "label" describing my specific brain type, the "whys" behind what I needed might have escaped me had anybody bothered to ask about them (because I lacked the language to describe my experiences), but I could have told you some thing that could be done (or avoided) to make my life easier.

I assumed, as most people do, that I had "the same brain" and experience as everyone else in the world and that I "needed to suck it up" and deal with things (like the neuro-average people around me did).

Being diagnosed Autistic in adulthood was a catalyst moment in my life because it made me start to question my assumptions (about myself, other people, and the world around me).

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I hope this helps,
- Lyric