By Madison Smith, MA, LPC Associate MT-BC supervised by Crystal Brashear, PhD, LPC-S
As diagnosis improves for conditions like autism and ADHD, “neurodiversity” has become a buzzword online and in therapy spaces. If you’ve been wondering what neurodiversity means, or whether neurodiversity-affirming therapy is right for you, keep reading!
The Neurodiversity Paradigm
Neurodiversity-affirming professionals view autism, ADHD, and other conditions through the neurodiversity paradigm. The neurodiversity paradigm was first developed in the 1990s as a framework for understanding autistic experience. It has since expanded to include ADHD, personality disorders, and other cognitive or developmental disabilities. The neurodiversity paradigm challenges historical medical approaches to cognitive and developmental disabilities. The historical medical model views deviation from society’s idea of “normal” as a dysfunction that requires treatment or cure. However, the neurodiversity paradigm views conditions such as autism and ADHD as part of normal human variation which means that these people with these conditions do not need to be cured or fixed. Instead, neurodiverse individuals have unique strengths that benefit humanity, and they also face unique challenges because of differences in how they experience the world.
The neurodiversity paradigm recognizes that neurodiverse individuals often experience disability. In the neurodiversity framework, disability is viewed as a social phenomenon caused by societal and environmental failures to include disabled persons, rather than an individual problem that is “abnormal” compared to most other people. Because the neurodiversity paradigm embraces a social model of disability, therapeutic focus shifts from “fixing” the individual to considering the impact of the environment on the individual’s experience. Instead of assuming that the goal of therapy is to help a client blend in with neurotypical people (people who don’t experience conditions such as autism or ADHD), neurodiversity-affirming therapists listen to the client’s own reasons for seeking therapy and don’t try to “fix” the client’s divergent behaviors or experiences.
Neurodivergence and Mental Health
While neurodiversity-affirming therapists aren’t in the business of “fixing” clients, they are familiar with the unique impacts of being neurodivergent (another descriptor for those experiencing autism, ADHD, or other cognitive/developmental conditions) while living in a neurotypical world. These impacts can include societal stigma, internal shame, failed attempts at relating to others, and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, OCD, and eating disorders. Additionally, many autistic people consciously and unconsciously “mask” their autistic traits by camouflaging them and mimicking their neurotypical peers. Neurodiversity-affirming therapists are aware of the mental health impacts of masking. These include incoherent sense of self, low self-esteem, frequent burnout, relational difficulties, and correlation with increased suicidality.
What to look for in a therapist
Neurodivergent clients need a therapist who understands the profound impacts of autism and ADHD on mental health. At Embrace Autism, Dr. Debra Bercovici highlights some important things to look for in an affirming therapist, including promoting client autonomy, working from the neurodiversity paradigm rather than viewing autism as a disorder, and understanding how sensory and social differences impact a client’s experiences in therapy. Neurodiversity-affirming therapists should be flexible, curious, client-led, and constantly learning. They value the strengths of their neurodivergent clients while honoring the difficult experiences these clients bring into therapy.
In my own work with neurodivergent clients, I am informed by a resource-based complex trauma treatment model that emphasizes curiosity, compassion, and connection as core elements of therapy. I also draw from my education as a Board-Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC) by incorporating expressive arts interventions into therapy when talking may not be as helpful as other modalities could be. I love to incorporate clients’ strengths, creativity, and special interests into therapy, and I recognize that my clients’ needs and capacity may change from session to session.
If you think that neurodiversity-affirming therapy is right for you, schedule a phone consultation to learn more about my process. If you have more questions about neurodiversity, autism, and ADHD, you may find the resources below to be helpful.
