Quotes About Neurodiversity

In the person with autism, the brain may already be seeing the part and be less distracted by the whole, and in the person without autism the brain may have to set aside its picture of the whole to analyze the detail.

Most people assume that autistic people are not capable of empathy.

I think the core criterion is the social awkwardness, but the sensory issues are a serious problem in many, many cases of autism, and they make it impossible to operate in the environment where you're supposed to be social.

When I achieved the European record for reciting pi in 2004, this captured the imagination of Professor Simon Baron-Cohen in Cambridge and he finally diagnosed me with Asperger's that year.

I'm hoping that autism is going to get to that same point, where it becomes quite ordinary to say, 'I have autism,' or 'I have Asperger's syndrome,' and that there will be many more resources available to make life easier for people on the autistic spectrum.

I have an obsession with books about kids with Asperger's syndrome.

From a scientific standpoint, Aspergers and autism are one syndrome. Aspergers is part of the autism spectrum, not a separate disorder.

The world needs all types of minds.

The autistic personality is an extreme variant of male intelligence.

In a widely read New York Times article in December 2004, Jack Thomas, a tenth grader with Asperger's syndrome, got the world's attention by stating, "We don't have a disease, so we can't be cured. This is just the way we are.

I think I had a mild case of Asperger's as a younger guy, but that typically just wears off after a while. For some people, anyway.

I suspect that among parents or siblings of a person with autism there are higher rates of talents in systemizing.

I see people with Asperger's syndrome as a bright thread in the rich tapestry of life.

I want you to remember that you can't feel responsible for everything. We're your parents, and we will figure us out. All you need to do— any of you"— she looks at my brothers—" is be a kid for now and let us be there for you.""All of us?" Dusty says. "Even those of us without neurological disorders?" "All of you.

these kids who never did anything to anyone except be born with different brains and different wiring

It may be true in the case of autism that if you start off with a deficit in terms of empathy or mind reading, you've just got more time to devote to understanding the world by systemizing.

As Thomas Armstrong explains in his book Neurodiversity, the ADHD label is a "tragic decoy" because "the child is reduced to an 'ADD child' where the potential to see the best in him or her is severely eroded (since ADD/ADHD puts all the emphasis on the deficits, not the strengths)."22 This concern is echoed in the field of dual exceptionalities, which recognizes that many characteristics of giftedness are commonly misdiagnosed as ADHD.

impairment in executive function may be the most disabling result of having an autism spectrum condition because of its negative impact on life outcome.

The idea of a cure for autism is itself controversial. Some people with autism say they don't want to be cured, because autism gives them a different way of looking at the world.

Just imagine how many judgements we could avoid if there was a better understanding of Autism. (In 'A Place for Everything.' )

When a child knows that he or she is dyslexic, that it's the way their brain is programmed, and it's not their fault, that makes all the difference in the world.

There are people with Asperger's whom I've met who certainly would be very upset to learn they'd hurt another person's feelings. They often have very strong moral consciences and moral codes. They care about not hurting people.

Autistic people's disabilities are widely known, but one of their best-established strengths is their attention to detail.

The majority of autists - as well as their parents - seem to be genuine victims of environmental stress.