What does the term neurodiverse mean to you?

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Hey guys, I'm not active on here much (more of a lurker) but I recently became fascinated by spectrums of all types and have questioned whether the term 'neurodiverse' would be an appropriate term to use on the other end of neurotypical? My understanding from the little information I've seen about that term though is that it is in some way controversial?

Here is what I mean in a spectrum diagram/map: Neurodiverse ----l--------------- Neurotypical
The line indicates where I see myself.
I like the term because it is all encompassing, including those who have adhd etc
I'd be interested to hear what other people think though.

I don't tend to think in terms of neurodiverse-neurotypical spectrum.
I consider autism a diagnosis, not an identity group.
Neurodiverse doesn't have much meaning for me, and I have no special feeling of understanding the idea of neurodiverse or other people who would be considered neurodiverse but not autistic.

How I have seen it used is to describe the effort for people in one group to understand, work with, relate to, appreciate, and emjoy people in a different group as well as to acknowledge that while autism spectrum disorders are something you have or you don't, the reality is that sometimes kids come from a parent who does not seem diagnosable, maybe has some traits, and has autistic relatives and maybe the other parent doesn't seem to have traits so some explanation is needed because the idea you have autism or you don't stops making sense if you look at possible inheritance in kids.

Thanks for your input guys,
I don't really see Autism as an identity group either but it is itself a spectrum. I was just playing around with the idea of stretching out that spectrum, if that makes any sense.
I've been questioning whether an autism/adhd/dyslexia etc diagnoses is so black and white. As you said @Waterfalls some people just have certain traits or aspects, so how would they label/identify themselves, if at all

Neurodiverse makes no sense to me by itself. Everybody thinks in their own unique way (even identical twins, I'd imagine). I think that if this method of catagorizing thought continues for a couple hundred years, the neurotypical box will vanish all together.

As a descriptor it describes people who neurology is not typical or mainstream.

As a social movement, it is the attempting to change the current mainstream belief that the neurologically caused behaviors and traits of people described above are "deficits" or "wrong" and thus need to be ameliorated as much as possible. The ND movement wants a lot of the above traits/behaviors to be viewed as acceptable human differences.

The way I see it is two groups, NT and ND. Neurodiverse are those who have any sort of neurological disorder which includes autism. Neurotypicals are those without any kind of neurological disorder.

People tend to refer to NTs as all successful but that's not the case. They can come from broken families in poverty and be homeless. Not to mention they can have other things but neurological disorders, such as mood disorders and also physical disabilities. They're not neurological disorders, but NTs can still have disabilities.

You can be NT with autistic traits, but that still makes you NT. You can be autistic but less autistic than others, but that still makes you autistic. NTs still can have traits of any neurological disorder but they're still NTs.

I think the model is too limited. There are so many subgroups of both ND and NT that it doesn't make much sense to me to put them into two groups with huge differences among them and as such doesn't mean very much.

Neurodiverse means as they are; they range to be the least typical kind to the most typical kind of NT. It's rather vague...

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A stupid made up word

It means there's a wide range of disabilities besides Autism that can make a person "challenged", such as Fragile-X, mental retardation, Down's Syndrome, ADHD, dementia (although that is a disease but still affects the person), the list goes on.

A few years ago I went on this camp for teenagers with disabilities, and they had other neurological disorders but not Autism (only about 2 were Autistic), and I felt like the most "mainstream" one there.

I've never actually given much though to the term "neurodiverse" to be perfectly honest.

However, now I see the diagram I would probably say that because of very recent improvements in my life and due to me investing in myself a hell of a lot over the past 8 years or so, I would put my self about here:

Neurodiverse --------------l----- Neurotypical

Also, and if you don't mind me saying, I think a lot of people who I know might put me there as well.

I was diagnosed with aspergers syndrome and ADHD about 10 years ago and at that time I reckon I would have been here:

Neurodiverse ----l--------------- Neurotypical

I think Babybird's got the right idea about "neurodiverse."

I think autism is a spectrum---and I think other neurodiverse conditions like schizophrenia can be seen as a spectrum as well.

I believe looking at neurodiversity as a continuum is useful--because there are difficult "intensities" of being neurodiverse. And one could also change one's status even on a day-to-day basis.

Today, I might veer decidedly toward the neurodiverse and away from the neurotypical--this would be the time to write poetry! Tomorrow, I might feel more neurotypical for various reasons; this would be the time for me to edit my poetry.