Neurodiversity in the New Year
by Katrina Martin on January 11, 2022
As we start fresh with a new year, I feel renewed hope for our efforts within the neurodiversity movement. Having spent the last year collaborating with the autistic and neurodivergent communities, I feel a sense of confidence in our work both within and outside of the neurodiversity community and an urge to spread this important message. As our company has grown, we have opened ourselves to both support and criticism, each providing an opportunity to learn. One of our primary values as a company is a recognition that we don’t know what we don’t yet know. To this end, we recognize the necessity of continued learning and of enacting what we learn. Though internally we may label documents as final, they never are because neurodiversity is a movement, not a destination.
Going into the new year, I would like to share with you—our collaborators, customers, and critics—my personal commitments of neurodiversity advocacy:
Don’t expect everyone to be in the same place at the same time. Our world is steeped in ableism and many, if not most, people have a lot of unlearning that must be accomplished as the first step in their journey to accepting the neurodiversity paradigm. Allow others the opportunity to listen, learn, and grow.
Don’t expect that you yourself have all the right answers. What you know to be true today will inevitably be questioned in the future. The terms that you use now will become passé and your understanding of what is “right” will evolve. Allow yourself the opportunity to listen, learn, and grow.
Be brave. Be your authentic self and share your thoughts and newfound knowledge. It’s uncomfortable to disagree with others, but it is the only way for the movement to continue moving.
Remember that neurodiversity is a social justice movement that lifts, follows, leads, and coexists with other human rights movements. You don’t exist in a vacuum, nor should you take up all of the space. Your work is a part of a grander ideal that promotes equity, access, participation, and equal rights for ALL people.
Be responsive, rather than dismissive, to skeptics. Answer their fears. Admit when you have no answers. Stay open to questioning, to naivete, to cautious curiosity. It is by adding members to our ranks that this movement will grow beyond our small network of like-minded individuals.
Within the neurodiversity community, work to lift the cause rather than fight for a prime spot. Side by side we will gain influence, accumulate supporters, and change the world.
So, here’s to a year filled with open discussion, learning, endless revisions and a step forward in our efforts to make the world a better place.
