Neurodivergence: Thinking differently is special somehow?

The question of late is, what is neurodivergence? "You mean thinking differently is special somehow?" (This has come up with the Harris/Walz political campaign because Walz's son is described as neurodivergent and cried and mouthed, "That's my dad!" as his dad got nominated as VP at the Democratic National Convention. He has a nonverbal learning disability. "The condition, known as NVLD, was first recognized in 1967 and doesn’t yet have a formal clinical definition. It is characterized by a significant gap between verbal abilities — which are just fine — and nonverbal kinds of learning that involve visual-spatial processing, such as telling time on an analog clock, reading a map and balancing a budget."(https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2024-08-23/what-is-non-verbal-learning-disorder-gus-walz)

Neurodivergent is a word that means something a little more in-depth than "thinking differently." From the Cleveland Clinic's website, "Neurodivergent is a nonmedical term that describes people whose brains develop or work differently for some reason. This means the person has different strengths and struggles from people whose brains develop or work more typically. While some people who are neurodivergent have medical conditions, it also happens to people where a medical condition or diagnosis hasn’t been identified." It is a way to describe people whose brains process things significantly different than the norm, thus, they learn significantly differently than kids of a similar age, culture, etc. Because they learn differently, they often need varied learning strategies for a positive outcome. The significance of the difference is often determined by academic testing, which is the spring board that people being their foray into the world, in many societies.

This means a person who has a low-IQ, due to a chromosomal difference, (previously called Mental Retardation), is considered neurodivergent. They aren't able to learn at the same speed as children of a similar age. However, this can also mean that a child, who is gifted and talented, and autistic may be considered part of the same classification. It means that they may need special interventions in a classroom setting and that those interventions may be ongoing into adulthood, or even just early adulthood (the college years).

Often, increased IQ makes it easier for neurodivergent children to become competent adults because smart people use their brains to compensate a lot. It also means that interventions are different in EACH case, as are outcomes. That means that we don't know how kids are going to react to interventions until we try them. Some kids just need extra help throughout adulthood to be part of society.

I am considered neurodivergent because I have aphantasia, which is the inability to visualize things in my mind's eye. The way I have compensated for that is by "visualizing" things with words and feelings. I remember things with great difficulty, if they are graphical. I have to practice the graphic again and again. For example, I cannot play chess very well at all, despite being a very bright person, because I cannot "see" the moves ahead because I am unable to visualize them. It does not adversely affect me in my day-to-day life, but it makes me different from most people of a similar age and IQ.  

To be honest, in teaching, I recall students' names because of how they smell (I have a keen sense of smell) or a smell associated with them, like a particular sandwich or favorite food, something they said, something they did, the first impression I took from their presentation, something I felt or some association I made with regards to them. It takes me a little longer to get their names straight, but I keep making the verbal connection to their name, by repeating their name, whenever I call on them, to force me to learn their name and associate the face in front of me with it, and God forfend, the infamous seating chart, though I'm going to have to say here, that it doesn't matter to me, where they sit, as long as I know where it is.  If you know me, you know I'm a talker and I get people to talk to me and give me the mnemonic necessary for me to remember them.  Just never ask me to draw someone's face from memory, without those mnemonics after seeing it once. I'd be a lousy visual witness.

In this article, this woman is far worse off than I am. My aphantasia is far less severe. While I can't visualize it, I do feel something about people I meet and I learn the name and associate the name with something, so if I meet them again and get their name, all the information about them comes back with a glimmer of recognition, maybe. With no verbal information or name, my ability to re-recognize people is diminished greatly. I'll never be a great chess player, but ability to select the right herbs for a recipe is unparalleled, by gum!