The Neurodiversity Edge


Book Description

National Bestseller A Porchlight Book Company Top New Release In The Neurodiversity Edge, renowned Oxford-trained cognitive scientist, neurodiversity expert, and business leader, Dr. Maureen Dunne presents a pioneering framework to harnessing the power of neurodiversity to navigate the most important human resources revolution in the modern era. Did you know that an estimated 1 in 5 people are “neurodivergent”—have a mind that works differently, such as the autistic, ADHDers, the dyslexic, synesthetes, and other unique neurotypes—and that the vast majority are motivated, capable, and unemployed? This indispensable guide is based on more than two decades of immersive cognitive science research, case studies, stories from neurodivergent voices, in-the-trenches work with hundreds of organizations from start-ups to global Fortune 500 titans, and Dr. Dunne's own lived experiences as a neurodivergent employer, entrepreneur, board member, and CEO. Too many unique minds and perspectives on the sidelines, and too many organizations beset by groupthink, innovation-stagnation, and a lack of access to qualified new candidates. The Neurodiversity Edge takes you all the way from why to what and to how, delivering practical insights that build on a new foundational framework: Cultivate a values-driven approach to building a culture of sustained authentic inclusion where everyone can thrive How to improve the interview process to avoid missing game-changing talent Develop a hybrid office protocol that works for everyone and a support infrastructure that aligns with universal design principles Discover why Google's Project Aristotle found that innovation and performance hinge on psychological safety Uncover and eliminate the destructive influence of unconscious cognitive biases Take a graphic tour into the wonders of the human mind Understand unique problem-solving abilities such as lateral thinking, visual-spatial thinking, multisensory thinking, leaps of creative insight, hyperfocus, and many more How to articulate and implement organizational goals and measure progress toward them The Neurodiversity Edge is an essential guide for executives, board directors, human resources professionals, managers, recruiters, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, allies, educators, nonprofit leaders, and anyone with an interest in better understanding neurodiversity, authentic neuroinclusion, and the human mind.




The Neurodiverse Workplace


Book Description

Estimates suggest that up to 20% of employees, customers and clients might have a neurodivergent condition - such as dyslexia, autism, Asperger's, ADHD or dyspraxia - yet these individuals often struggle to gain and maintain employment, despite being very capable. This practical, authoritative business guide will help managers and employers support neurodiverse staff, and gives advice on how to ensure workplaces are neuro-friendly. The book demonstrates that neurodiversity is a natural aspect of human variation to be expected and accepted, rather than a deficit to be accommodated. Employer responsibilities are highlighted, including the 2010 Equality Act, and a range of strategies and policies are provided, including recruitment advice and the benefits of neurodiverse employees, along with advice on physical environments, interaction and communication, and working with clients and customers. This book is an ideal resource for all employers wanting to support and empower people with specific needs to help create a more inclusive workplace, benefiting both neurodiverse individuals and the companies employing them.




On the Edge of Gone


Book Description

A thrilling, thought-provoking novel from one of young-adult literature’s boldest new talents. January 29, 2035. That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit—the big one. Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter outside their hometown of Amsterdam to wait out the blast, but Iris is nowhere to be found, and at the rate Denise’s drug-addicted mother is going, they’ll never reach the shelter in time. A last-minute meeting leads them to something better than a temporary shelter—a generation ship, scheduled to leave Earth behind to colonize new worlds after the comet hits. But everyone on the ship has been chosen because of their usefulness. Denise is autistic and fears that she’ll never be allowed to stay. Can she obtain a spot before the ship takes flight? What about her mother and sister? When the future of the human race is at stake, whose lives matter most?




Neurodiversity


Book Description

Neurodiversity: From Phenomenology to Neurobiology and Enhancing Technologies addresses the totality of neurodiversity through positive explorations of "invisible diversities"--from ADHD and savantism to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and dyslexia. Edited by the director of the Stanford Neurodiversity Project, the book emphasizes strengths-based approaches to clinical practice and investigates interventions to improve the lives of neurodiverse individuals. Following a compelling foreword by Temple Grandin, the book proceeds to address neurodiversity in four parts: first, an introduction that presents neurodiversity's differences in brain function and behavior as part of the normal variation of the human population; second, presentation of the strengths-based model of neurodiversity (SBMN), including positive psychology, neurobiology, and SBMN in savantism, autism, ADHD, and dyslexia; third, a discussion of neurodiverse individuals in the real world, including higher education and employment; and finally, a review of technologies that enhance our abilities to maximize the potential of neurodiversity, including inclusive design and assessment tools that provide support for neurodiverse young adults seeking meaningful employment. Neurodiversity: From Phenomenology to Neurobiology and Enhancing Technologies provides clinicians, educators, and other professionals with cutting-edge, practical, and positive information to understand and assist their patients, students, and other neurodiverse individuals to operate from a position of strength.




Neurodiversity Studies


Book Description

Building on work in feminist studies, queer studies and critical race theory, this volume challenges the universality of propositions about human nature, by questioning the boundaries between predominant neurotypes and ‘others’, including dyslexics, autistics and ADHDers. This is the first work of its kind to bring cutting-edge research across disciplines to the concept of neurodiversity. It offers in-depth explorations of the themes of cure/prevention/eugenics; neurodivergent wellbeing; cross-neurotype communication; neurodiversity at work; and challenging brain-bound cognition. It analyses the role of neuro-normativity in theorising agency, and a proposal for a new alliance between the Hearing Voices Movement and neurodiversity. In doing so, we contribute to a cultural imperative to redefine what it means to be human. To this end, we propose a new field of enquiry that finds ways to support the inclusion of neurodivergent perspectives in knowledge production, and which questions the theoretical and mythological assumptions that produce the idea of the neurotypical. Working at the crossroads between sociology, critical psychology, medical humanities, critical disability studies, and critical autism studies, and sharing theoretical ground with critical race studies and critical queer studies, the proposed new field – neurodiversity studies – will be of interest to people working in all these areas. Chapter 7 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.




Autism and the Edges of the Known World


Book Description

In this intelligent and incisive book, Olga Bogdashina explores old and new theories of sensory perception and communication in autism. Drawing on linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, anthropology and quantum mechanics, she looks at how the nature of the senses inform an individual's view of the world, and how language both reflects and constructs that view. Examining the 'whys' and 'hows' of the senses, and the role of language, Olga Bogdashina challenges common perceptions of what it means to be 'normal' and 'abnormal'. In doing so she shows that autism can help to illuminate our understanding of what it means to be human, and of how we develop faculties that shape our cognition, language, and behaviour. In the final chapter, she explores phenomena often associated with the paranormal - including premonitions, telepathy and déjà vu - and shows that these can largely be explained in natural terms. This book will appeal to anyone with a personal or professional interest in autism, including students and researchers, clinical practitioners, individuals on the autism spectrum and their families, teachers, speech and occupational therapists, and other professionals.




The Power of Neurodiversity


Book Description

"Parents, teachers, and policymakers should all read this thought-provoking book. I loved it."--Temple Grandin, author of "Thinking in Pictures "




Neurotribes


Book Description

This New York Times–bestselling book upends conventional thinking about autism and suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and full participation in society for people who think differently. What is autism? A lifelong disability, or a naturally occurring form of cognitive difference akin to certain forms of genius? In truth, it is all of these things and more—and the future of our society depends on our understanding it. Wired reporter Steve Silberman unearths the secret history of autism, long suppressed by the same clinicians who became famous for discovering it, and finds surprising answers to the crucial question of why the number of diagnoses has soared in recent years. Going back to the earliest days of autism research, Silberman offers a gripping narrative of Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger, the research pioneers who defined the scope of autism in profoundly different ways; he then goes on to explore the game-changing concept of neurodiversity. NeuroTribes considers the idea that neurological differences such as autism, dyslexia, and ADHD are not errors of nature or products of the toxic modern world, but the result of natural variations in the human genome. This groundbreaking book will reshape our understanding of the history, meaning, function, and implications of neurodiversity in our world.




Neurodiversity


Book Description

A new term has emerged from the disability movement in the past decade to help change the way we think about neurological disorders: Neurodiversity. ADHD. Dyslexia. Autism. The number of categories of illnesses listed by the American Psychiatric Association has tripled in the past fifty years. With so many people affected by our growing -- culture of disabilities, -- it no longer makes sense to hold on to the deficit-ridden idea of neuropsychological illness. With the sensibility of Oliver Sacks and Kay Redfield Jamison, psychologist Thomas Armstrong offers a revolutionary perspective that reframes many neuropsychological disorders as part of the natural diversity of the human brain rather than as definitive illnesses. Neurodiversity emphasizes their positive dimensions, showing how people with ADHD, bipolar disorder, and other conditions have inherent evolutionary advantages that, matched with the appropriate environment or ecological niche, can help them achieve dignity and wholeness in their lives.




Divergent Mind


Book Description

AUDIBLE EDITOR'S PICK A paradigm-shifting study of neurodivergent women—those with ADHD, autism, synesthesia, high sensitivity, and sensory processing disorder—exploring why these traits are overlooked in women and how society benefits from allowing their unique strengths to flourish. As a successful Harvard and Berkeley-educated writer, entrepreneur, and devoted mother, Jenara Nerenberg was shocked to discover that her “symptoms”--only ever labeled as anxiety-- were considered autistic and ADHD. Being a journalist, she dove into the research and uncovered neurodiversity—a framework that moves away from pathologizing “abnormal” versus “normal” brains and instead recognizes the vast diversity of our mental makeups. When it comes to women, sensory processing differences are often overlooked, masked, or mistaken for something else entirely. Between a flawed system that focuses on diagnosing younger, male populations, and the fact that girls are conditioned from a young age to blend in and conform to gender expectations, women often don’t learn about their neurological differences until they are adults, if at all. As a result, potentially millions live with undiagnosed or misdiagnosed neurodivergences, and the misidentification leads to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and shame. Meanwhile, we all miss out on the gifts their neurodivergent minds have to offer. Divergent Mind is a long-overdue, much-needed answer for women who have a deep sense that they are “different.” Sharing real stories from women with high sensitivity, ADHD, autism, misophonia, dyslexia, SPD and more, Nerenberg explores how these brain variances present differently in women and dispels widely-held misconceptions (for example, it’s not that autistic people lack sensitivity and empathy, they have an overwhelming excess of it). Nerenberg also offers us a path forward, describing practical changes in how we communicate, how we design our surroundings, and how we can better support divergent minds. When we allow our wide variety of brain makeups to flourish, we create a better tomorrow for us all.




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