Solidarity in Neurodiversity

By Brian Barlay (Lead Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer)

12 October 2021

When we speak of diversity and inclusion, we often ponder race, ethnicity, gender, and religion but seldom talk about neurodiversity. We must extend our arms to our forgotten brothers, sisters, and non-binary conformists whose struggles have been invincible to us, and frankly, whose lived experiences have been neglected.  Neurodiversity is a broad spectrum of individuals with dyslexia, autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, and other neurological conditions.

In the Global Burden of Disease report that was published by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), it is estimated that around 62 million people were diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder in 2016. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 1 in 42 among boys and 1 in 189 among girls had been identified with an autism spectrum disorder in the United States alone. Lastly, 1 in 7 people in the UK is neurodivergent, which is more than 15 percent of the UK population.[1]

Neurodiversity is a global health crisis that has gone unrecognized for over decades, 17 percent of the world population is diagnosed, but millions more suffer in silence with the invisibility cloak that society unawarely placed on them.[2] Now is the time that we must join arms, create awareness and also provide equitable solutions.

We must ask ourselves: How are we creating the capacity for neurodivergent? How are we amplifying their voices? What have we done in the past and what would we do differently in the future?

References:

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0327-autism-spectrum-disorder.html (Furthermore, in the United States alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 1 in 42 among boys and 1 in 189 among girls has been identified with autism spectrum disorder); https://www.healthassured.org/blog/neurodiversity/ ( 1 in 7 people in the UK are neurodivergent); https://ourworldindata.org/neurodevelopmental-disorders ( Globally, around 62 million people were estimated to have autistic spectrum disorder in 2016. Just under 50 million of these cases were in males) 

[2] https://www.workdesign.com/2019/12/designing-for-neurodiversity-and-inclusion/ (When you consider that many conditions go undiagnosed, 17 percent is therefore likely to be conservative at best);