Have you ever felt like you could definitely listen to that meeting but absolutely needed to do something with your hands or you’d get lost in your thoughts? Fidgeting, drawing, whatever that may be, because you NEED to. During COVID, when everybody went to work from home for the first time, I started knitting because, for the love of me, if I was just sitting at my computer, I would fall asleep immediately. The same would happen at the office, but to remedy that, I would just take notes or start thinking of other things, or I would undeniably find myself fighting sleep during meetings that I wasn’t leading.
Have you ever felt like you were thinking about too many things at once? Too many ideas popping up on so many different topics that your brain can’t keep up.
Have you ever had so many hobbies that became an obsession for a while, then were suddenly forgotten until you picked them up again? Or not, for that matter.
Or have you ever felt like other people seemed incapable of multitasking, or that you had to take on more tasks because you could do them simultaneously with something else, whilst others didn’t seem capable of doing so?
Or have you ever seen someone else do this? If that’s the case, welcome to Neurodivergence 101.
Yup, I said it. Whether you know it or not, whether you’ve observed it or not, whether it’s ADHD, autism, dyslexia, whatever, welcome friends, welcome on the spectrum. And please do read these last few words carefully, and remember, I did say “spectrum.” Imagine a scale with autism at the highest level. Fun fact: in French, these two concepts are considered two different scales. One for autism or neurodivergence, where people require special accommodations; the other for neuroatypical people (ADHD, dyslexia, etc.). In English, this distinction does not exist; all neuroatypical people are considered neurodivergent.
S what does it mean to be neuroatypical ?
It pretty much describes how your neurological processes deviate from the statistical norm. In other words, neurotypical people think sequentially, linearly, one thought after the other, one task after the other, everything one after the other, always one at a time. You finish that task, that thought, that idea, and only once you’ve finished do you move on to something else.
Neuroatypical people? Well, that’s a whole different story. Picture a fractal or the branches of a tree, for example. Someone says something to you, and 3 to 5 different ideas that are completely unrelated to each other pop into your head. From those 3 to 5 different ideas, 3 to 5 more diverse thoughts arise, and so on, until it all ends in chaos.
For me, for example, some thoughts can fade into the background, and I end up forgetting them. Other thoughts, on the other hand, must absolutely be brought to fruition, written down, and expressed immediately. For others, well, I like to say, reach the gates of hell. They pop up, and I know it’s not the right time, so I repress them, push them down, but they resist and stay there, watching me until I take action. Or else I repress them unconsciously, and then those thoughts come back to haunt me. It may simply be thinking about responses to verbal attacks or remarks made during a conversation, waking up in the middle of the night after an exam, with the answer I apparently forgot during said exam. It may be a thought or an action that haunts and stresses me until I finally act on it. Like that pumpkin that’s been sitting on my counter for two months, waiting for my friend to come over so we can make pumpkin pies. He doesn’t realise it, but seeing that pumpkin every day stresses me out so much that sometimes I want to throw it out the window.
Anyway, there you go, I get lost in my thoughts, lost in translation.
By the way, it has been noted that in isolated tribes, for example, neurodivergent individuals are actually put on a pedestal and often end up occupying important positions such as gurus, shamans, and guardians, because our perceptions are different from those of others and are therefore considered wiser, or we are considered capable of accessing dimensions that are inaccessible to others, as if we were closer to the clouds, the ghosts, the gods, or other dimensions. Because we feel more, we perceive more.
Another idea I heard once in a podcast was the belief that neurodiversity is the evolution of our brains, the adaptation of humans from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to sedentary jobs in technological sectors where more and more is demanded of us.
In any case, remember that this is a spectrum and that there are probably many more of us than we think, but we haven’t necessarily been diagnosed because it has never bothered us, or at least not officially. Personally, I was diagnosed during IQ and aptitude tests at the age of 7 to prove that I had the ability to skip a grade.
A few years ago in France, it was fashionable to have a child with high intellectual potential (HPI). “Oh, look at me, I have a gifted child.” Make no mistake, if you haven’t been diagnosed, you’re not. You may have your suspicions, but please don’t throw words around just because it sounds good. Because the reality is not as hiny as you might think.
As a child, you feel like you don’t belong and never will; you don’t necessarily understand social cues. Honestly, that doesn’t change much as an adult. If it doesn’t fit your logic, you just won’t understand, no matter how hard you try. And it’s so hard to do something that just doesn’t make sense to you! Why do people lie, knowing that it will inevitably lead to problems, arguments, and worries? I don’t understand. Why do people say they’ll do something and then not do it? It’s beyond my comprehension. I don’t understand. If you say you’re going to do something, just do it!
Studies have shown that neurodivergent people are more sensitive than others to smells, tastes, touch, hearing, feelings, emotions, and energies. I get a headache if a smell is too strong, my little sister gets sick if there are smells in the car, even the smell of window cleaner makes her sick. Because of this hypersensitivity, we also notice that neurodivergent people are more prone to depression and mental disorders.
We need a solid foundation, a well-established routine, but we also need constant change and new experiences. And our brains never seem to turn off. I’ve gone through periods where I felt like my brain was like an overheated computer, with so many thoughts at once that I just wanted to unplug the damn thing, to break it. But guess what? That’s not possible.
In any case, when you know how to work with your neurodivergence or that of your colleagues, it opens the door to so many wonderful things. The innovations you wanted? You’ve got them! The productivity and efficiency you were looking for? Guess who can be wonderfully multitasking and highly efficient? It’s a godsend! Provided you know how to make the most of it, that is. As long as you know how it works and you accommodate it, you work with it rather than against it. Opt for unconventional methods and let yourself be surprised.
But be careful, if you don’t create the right conditions, neurodivergent people will be the first to fall by the wayside. Don’t forget that we feel more, whether we understand it or not, we perceive more, and we will be the first to sound the alarm bells about a dysfunctional process or work environment.
It’s good to know that even though neurodivergent people tend to stick together, it is possible to live together. My father is neurotypical, my mother is neurodivergent. And guess what? My older sister is neurotypical, while my younger sister and I are neurodivergent. My older sister can’t, for example, talk on the phone and hang out the laundry at the same time. When I’m on the phone with my mother? We both do the housework, cook, do a puzzle, write down different thoughts at the same time, and switch from one topic to another without any connection or transition, without the slightest problem. On the other hand, my older sister’s partner is neurodivergent. She couldn’t escape it; she felt at home there. And she knows how to work around this difference, how to make the most of it. But make no mistake, she also knows perfectly well how to make the worst of it. I mean, what would life be without a little drama, right?
So, have I lost you in this jumble of thoughts with no obvious connections?
Welcome to the mind of a neurodivergent.
Whether this seems familiar or completely chaotic to you, if you want to learn more, welcome to
The Chronicles of a Neurodivergent Mind.
