What does it mean to be neurodivergent affirming?
Neurodiversity vs. Neurodivergent
Before talking about neurodivergent affirming care, let’s talk about the difference between neurodiversity and neurodivergence. According to Dwyer (2022), neurodiversity describes the diversity in brains. Just like racial diversity, there is brain diversity. Everyone’s brain process information in their own unique way. Neurodivergent means brains that are different from “typical” brains. Therefore, neurodivergent people think differently than the neurotypical counterparts. When we think about neurodivergent populations, they include people neurodevelopmental conditions like autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression, and other mental health differences.
Medical Model vs. Neurodivergent Affirming Approach
The medical model has been a mainstream approach to treat neurodivergent diagnosis. The medical model focused on fixing the neurodivergent traits so that neurodivergent individuals appear more “normal” or neuronormative (Dwyer, 2022). The neurodivergent affirming approach disagrees with how the medical model does not allow neurodivergent individual to be explore their unique traits. The neurodivergent affirming approach is similar to the social model. The social model claims that the impairments or reduced function is due to society. If society accommodated every individual, people would not experience deficit. According to Kroll et. al. (2024), “affirming care aims to adapt common treatment methods so they are more effective with neurodivergent individuals in addressing underlying mental health concerns such as depression and anxiety.” It is more crucial to focus on acceptance and accommodation from people around neurodivergent individuals than conforming neurodivergent individuals in a neuronormative norm. The study showed that neurodivergent clients who were treated with neurodivergent affirming practice had a better outcome than counterparts who received non-neurodivergent affirming care. (Kroll et. al., 2024).
Neurodivergent Affirming Therapy
As a client, those are something you can expect from neurodivergent affirming therapy. The information was provided by Neff (see resources below!):
- Using special interests or passion
- Explore neurodivergent identity and what it means to be neurodivergent individual
- Dissect your values from internalized ableism
- Understanding your sensory profile and practice during the appointment
- Clear communication
- Creating goals based on your needs
- Respecting your identity and language
- Self-disclosure from therapist to build safety
- Understanding of intersectionality
- Respect your communication modes
- Customizing therapy techniques to the neurodivergent affirming approach
At OpenWorld Psychology, we are proud to provide neurodivergent affirming care. Feel free to ask any of our providers more about how we support our neurodivergent community.
References
Dwyer, P. (2022). The neurodiversity approach(es): What are they and what do they mean for researchers? Human Development, 66(2), 73–92. https://doi.org/10.1159/000523723
Kroll, E., Lederman, M., Kohlmeier, J., Kumar, K., Ballard, J., Zant, I., & Fenkel, C. (2024). The positive impact of identity-affirming mental health treatment for neurodivergent individuals. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1403129
Neff, M. A. (n.d.). Neurodivergent affirming practice: Helping your clients accept their authentic selves. Neurodivergent Insights. https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/neurodivergent-affirming-practices/