De Ecopedagoog - De stekker er uit voor écht contact. Consultatie, educatie en begeleiding

Don't mince words - Neurodiversity

Another look at ADHD, giftedness, autism and other neurodivergent brain forms. Everyone knows the labels, but few know what they actually mean. In fact, science has not yet come to a conclusive conclusion about this. But what if much of what we currently describe as deviant is simply natural diversity...?

Are you a visual thinker, bad with long texts or do you just not feel like it? No worries! Beautiful visual website neurodiversity: https://projectlima.co/neurodiversity/ Listen to the text below: https://voicethread.com/share/21319963/ Introduction "Neurodiversity", a movement within psychology that advocates de-psychiatrizing certain terms and acknowledging them as neurological diversity is fortunately becoming more and more known worldwide. That immediately made me think of the harrowing stories from the last century, in which people with a different orientation were also medicalized and put into therapy: there was no room for sexual diversity in society. Would that comparison hold true for neurodiversity...? ------------- Misinformation about labels in society Research is currently being done at the University of Groningen into disinformation in articles and scientific papers about ADHD. For example, ADHD is not a brain disease, nor has it ever been demonstrated, despite the fact that various university graduates claim this. Sanne te Meerman (LinkedIn), postdoc researcher at the University of Groningen, has wonderful and rightly critical contributions about this. (link at the bottom of the article) Many neurodivergent girls and women are much more often (sooner or later) diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, while they later turn out to be neurodivergent, see for example this paper on misdiagnoses (including borderline) in women with autism (link at the bottom article) Dyslexia is also a good example: they are often wonderful, creative image thinkers with great intelligence in the field of perception and creation. But that word test? Put them away especially at low levels, because they can't handle those levels...? You get my point: a sad form of wasted talent, if only because we don't offer the right kind of education! All in all: there is a long way to go before certain brains are no longer approached psychiatrically and/or pathologised: especially in girls and women. Science does not yet have an answer to what and how exactly these brain types are put together: this will undoubtedly not be an unequivocal answer. For example, the relationship between intestinal problems and ADHD and autism is currently being investigated, including with regard to nutrition. So many studies in many different areas! --------- A personal note I myself was made aware of possible neurodivergence through a development program at the age of 28. This development trajectory was aimed at life questions related to vocational training that were tackled by two experienced psychologists, which I did listen to. However, I never expected that they would come to the following conclusion: I came there because I wanted to learn how to adapt more to others and to investigate whether this work still suited me. During the third interview of this process, the psychologists asked me if I had ever heard of giftedness. I laughed heartily at the two psychologists for their observation: gifted? I? Yet what they saw was wrong. I was embarrassed and very uncomfortable with their story. But these two women, much more experienced in the field than I, saw through me better than I realized myself and pointed out things that I cleverly managed to hide from many others. I went to investigate and then let myself be examined. What turned out? I belong to the so-called 2E community: in my case a combination of giftedness and ADHD. The two have a lot of overlap with each other, so it is not always clear what is what. That does not alter the fact that I suddenly felt at home after I started to join foundations and meetings around these themes: I got to know people with whom I suddenly recognized myself instead of where I had to adapt emotionally. Which brings me to the important quote I know in this area: "Before you diagnose yourself with depression and/or low self-esteem, make sure, you are not just surrounded by assholes". people in our lives and most of the people we clash with aren't assholes but unhappy get-togethers and our human shortcomings: what Freud meant by this is that we should always first examine whether we have the right people and factors in our lives to make sure make sure we feel seen and understood. We often don't know ourselves well enough and/or therefore don't surround ourselves in the right environment: looking contextually before you blame yourself is certainly important! Far too often I see young people, their parents and other adults wandering around without really being seen for who they are, which has made them doubt themselves I call this "wrinkling" towards young people and their parents: your whole life h feeling that you have to crumple, because otherwise you will be perceived as too much or too intense. Lotte van Lith has written a beautiful book ("Intens mens") and does phenomenal work in the field of gifted guidance. It is also common knowledge among professional care providers who specialize in (exceptional) giftedness that gifted people are often misunderstood within the mental health care system and therefore wrongly labeled. A whole offensive has even been launched to turn this around in the Netherlands: the national knowledge network Gifted Psychiatry. Unfortunately, we see this in many forms of neurodiversity: it quickly becomes psychiatric and many people feel as if there is something wrong with them. After I started working with neurodiversity, a surprising side effect was that the people in my personal environment also often found out that they are neurodivergent in different areas. A lot fell into place for them too and I have seen many people in my environment blossom in their self-confidence in such a short time that it strengthened me to make this visible professionally. This also means that I no longer go to professionally implementing usual assistance, because I do not support certain visions and working methods and find them too narrow. I saw too many young people and their parents not being seen and acknowledged and therefore still wandering empty and sad. That does not alter the fact that I was also able to see many wonderful and good initiatives, working relationships and people there: it was my personal consideration that this was no longer suitable for me to work from that professional vision: there is nothing wrong with assistance and the support in this, however, this does not apply to everyone and/or is not sufficient: I missed the offer within the positive approach and the radically different vision of this labeling. So I see added value in a both-and approach instead of just the mental health side of this story. View: different hypotheses From a scientific point of view, there are also fantastic studies and hypotheses to be found in neurodiversity, such as Thom Hartmann's on ADHD, in which he concludes that ADHD brains are the former hunters (ADHD: A hunter in a farmer's world) (link below article). We know, for example, that IQ tests often give incorrect results when people are tested in stressful or negative circumstances and that many aspects and forms of intelligence cannot be measured. In addition, neurodivergence can influence the test result if this is not sufficiently taken into account. Therefore, always go to a specialist agency for research and not to generalist assistance if you are looking for this area, is my advice. It can mean years of misery for young people, unfortunately I have seen this happen often enough in my work in youth assistance. And therefore also how great the relief is when experts look around high sensitivity and neurodiversity! Intriguingly, a more recently published book on archeology and anthropology, "The Beginning of Everything," suggests that human societies saw "deviants" as leaders or people with certain abilities who could point the group to danger or enrichment. This reminded me of Thom Hartmann's theory of ADHD. In addition, the most appropriate description of giftedness is currently the Delphi model: "A gifted person is a quick and smart thinker who can handle complex matters. Autonomous, curious and driven by nature. A sensitive and emotional person. Intensely alive. He or she creates pleasure into creating.” Giftedness is therefore a characteristic of a person, not a diagnosis. And no: many gifted people do not graduate from university at the age of 9, on the contrary: they often do not stand out in that sense or drop out of the school system sooner! behavioral classification, just like autism: it says something about the behavior and its characteristic, not about the person himself.People with ADHD characteristics like me are very energetic and we often become calm in crisis situations, clear and we can act immediately On the other hand, we can also be very chaotic and forgetful quickly. Apart from that, it is tempting to experience this only positively: the reason for sessions is of course also because you can get stuck in them. For example, I am a sieve when it comes to appointments memorizing and cooking dinner (executive functions): I write, so to speak, a forty-page policy plan in one day, but my boss had to sigh at me every week reminding me that I still had to fill in my hours. And thoughtfulness for birthdays and other matters? Also certainly not my strongest point, which sometimes put friendships under tension! I need the support of people around me in certain matters because I don't always succeed and I cried with relief when I first used appropriate medication that suddenly gave me an overview: glasses for the brain! Who knows, I may not need medication in another context, but in a society in which structure and regularity are not only seen as a must, but also as a personal norm in relationships, as here in the West, it does help me not to to go under. In more temperamental, different cultures, I probably wouldn't have needed this at all. Everything falls or stands again with nuance and context. Companies and neurodiversity: good examples. In order to have sufficient self-mockery and to ensure that people are less likely to reject you, you will have to learn to see yourself and make it visible to the world in a healthy way. And do you think, “Can we really see this now?”? Just Google ASML and ABN-Amro about Neurodiversity: They have even adjusted their HR policy to neurodiversity, following the example of the UK and Canada. NRC has written some nice articles about this positive turnaround. What can I do for you or you in this? Individual coaching sessions You can use me for an informative, humorous and insightful session about neurodiversity, because you or your organization simply want to learn more about it. You can consult me because you or your child (from the age of 16) have had a diagnosis that falls within the neurodiverse movement Within a session I will look differently with you and/or your child at so-called "lifehacks": learning to deal with neurodiversity in a different way . Often with a portion of common sense, humor and also invigorating conversations about the loneliness that can come with this: the most important thing is that you and / or your child can feel seen, recognized and relieved. Learning to learn I can help you learn to learn differently so that you are better able to integrate everything better at home or within education Trainings Trainings and lectures are possible for organizations in which neurodiversity is linked to an experience-based vision. For example, I give the spicy reflective training "Who is the care avoider here?!" to youth care professionals about not seeing people in their full being and the consequences thereof. Contact us for the possibilities. If you have specific needs, tailor-made training courses are possible. And you, time to no longer wrinkle, to learn to see yourself through a different lens and to learn not to mince words? I'll give you a head start through the articles below.

List of services

Contact