Neurodiversity Paradigm: Spotlight on Dr. Nick Walker

How about the aurora the other weekend? A solar storm from the sun, made its way to earth, interacting with the magnetic field that holds our planet together. A creative synergy took place that resulted in a stunning display of colour witnessed en masse by people all over the world. WOW.

I was serendipitously staying with friends out in the countryside. The night was clear, a starry installation made more magical by the tunnel of red light that burst and spread across the night sky as if the sun was setting again. We couldn’t believe our eyes, laying down in the gravel driveway silenced by awe and wonderment. It felt, well, musical. Being suspended in something that feels other worldly and simultaneously innately human, to be moved by beauty.

I am beginning a series of articles related to Neurodiversity-Affirming music therapy. I have a lot to learn and this is my way of beginning to articulate my current understanding of practice and notice the gaps that require my ongoing attention.

I find myself often in a state of awe and amazement reading about the latest ideas that are moving the music therapy profession forward, they arise often in a process of creative synergy; an alchemy of research and theory from psychology, musicology and activism, interacting to form rich ideas full of potential to bring about positive change in the profession (and the world).

Last week, after listening to an eye-opening interview with music therapist and activist; Jessica Leza on the podcast ‘music therapy conversations’ (British Association of Music Therapy, 2024), I have come to critique my own thinking in the area of neurodiversity-affirming music therapy.

In my training I happily identified with the term ‘neurodiversity-affirming’ to describe my intentions as a practitioner, wanting to celebrate all ways of being and be anti-oppressive towards participants. Leza’s interview revealed to me that a real danger of superficially adopting neurodiversity-affirming terminology and ideas (ie. doing what you’ve already been doing but just calling it ‘neurodiversity-affirming’), has the potential to cause real harm and disguise ways of working that only perpetuate ableism and neuronormativity in therapeutic spaces.

I identify as a cis-gendered woman who uses both she/her and they/them pronouns. I am pākeha, of New Zealand European ethnicity and am able-bodied. I am neurotypical, meaning my neurocognitive style fits within dominant societal standards.

I offer this detailed disclosure of my intersecting identities as a human being, to share the sociocultural lens and unearned privilege I experience in my life and work.

My intention with these series of articles is to uplift the voices of neurominorities and introduce you to an emerging approach to music therapy that exists within a neurodiversity paradigm. The neurodiversity paradigm provides both 1.) a new way of embracing diversity as a source of creative potential and 2.) is a philosophical foundation for activism in the Neurodiversity Movement (Walker, 2021).

The lived experience voices that will be shared in this series.

• Nick Walker - author of ‘Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the neurodiversity paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities’ (2021).

• Jessica Leza - author of ‘Introduction to neurodiversity and Autistic culture for Music Therapists’ (n.d).

• Hilary Davies - author of ‘Autism is a way of being’: An ‘insider perspective’ on neurodiversity, music therapy and social justice (2022).

• Daphne Rickson - Author of ‘Music Therapy with Autistic Children in Aotearoa, New Zealand Haumanu ā-Puoro mā ngā Tamariki Takiwātanga i Aotearoa’ (2022).

Beginning with Dr. Nick Walker (she/her), the creator of the neurodiversity paradigm. Walker is a queer, trans, autistic writer and professor in somatic psychology at California institute of integral studies and the editor of the publishing house ‘autonomous press’, which promotes the publishing of authors who challenge cultural norms in their work. She developed the neurodiversity paradigm which is an essential base for any introduction to neurodiversity-affirming practice and therefore is where I shall begin this series. A brief history and overview of the Neurodiversity Paradigm will be explored with emphasis on Nick Walker’s pioneering work.

History of the neurodiversity movement

The 1990’s saw the emergence of an Autistic rights movement in the US. A discourse was developed to understand the qualities of autistic culture and community.

People started to speak up about the oppressive forces that undermine autistic ways of being. A collective identity as a minority group was important to communicate, yet a word was needed to describe the force autistic people were pushing back against. This is where the term ‘neurodiversity’ first emerged.

In the same way that culture, gender, sexuality and ethnicity are a feature of human diversity, so too is our neurocognitive functioning, embodiment and sensory processing of the world around us. The term neurodiversity has since branched out from its origin in the autistic rights movement and is now used widely to advocate for many neurodivergent identities.

Nick Walker (she/her) has been a pioneer in the development of thought and language to articulate the experiences of neurodivergent individuals and has changed the way myself and many other people think about the framing of neurodivergence and disability.

One important thing I have become aware of reading Walkers work is my wrongful use of the word neurodiverse. A PERSON IS NOT NEURODIVERSE. For a while now, when people ask me, who I work with as a music therapist, I often respond saying I have experience working with neurodiverse children and adults, but this incorrect. Neurodiversity is a property of humanity as a whole and of large groups of people. Even a classroom of only autistic children is not neurodiverse (as this group only contains one type of neurodivergence). But, a school community that welcomes neurotypical children, autistic children and children with other divergent cognitive styles is considered a neurodiverse school or a school that embraces neurodiversity.

‘Neurodivergent’ was a term originally created by Kassiane Asasumasu (2023), a multiply neurodivergent activist in the neurodiversity movement. Neurodivergent is a word intended to describe an individual that is inclusive of all neurocognitive styles that are not neurotypical (fit within the dominant social standards). These include identities, conditions and differences, such as Tourette's, ADHD, epilepsy, Down's syndrome, dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, bipolar, people who engage in deep life-long meditative practices and also acquired neurodivergence like trauma or temporary exposure to hallucinogenic drugs, the umbrella is expansive, intentionally so.

I point you also to Walkers article “Neurodiversity: some basic terms & definitions” for more comprehensive explanation of key terms that I will be using throughout this article.

The Paradigm shift

Neurodiversity is currently ‘dealt’ with in dominant culture using the Pathology paradigm. This paradigm has two key concepts:

1). There is a normal/healthy way for a human mind to function.

2). Diverging from ‘normal’ means there is something wrong with you.

Inherent in the pathology paradigm is the sense that neurotypical people are considered to be what is ‘normal’ and ‘natural’. Neurotypicality has therefore asserted itself as the ideal outcome for neurodivergent individuals. These assertions manifest in many ways across society where neurodivergent people are expected to mimic neurotypical cognitive functioning styles and are in constant comparison to neurotypical people. For example, Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) is a type of therapy which conditions autistic children to imitate non-autistic children.

The pathology paradigm serves to marginalise and oppress neurominority groups in the same way that historically a ‘dominant race’ or enforced ideas of gender roles have actively oppressed and marginalised people of colour (POC) and gender minorities.

Walker developed the Neurodiversity Paradigm to honour both neurodiversity as a natural part of human diversity and as a framework for liberating humanity from the pathology paradigm. The Neurodiversity Paradigm has three key concepts:

“1.) Neurodiversity is a natural and valuable form of human diversity.

2.) The idea that there is one ‘normal’ or ‘healthy’ type of brain or mind, or one ‘right’ style of neurocognitive functioning, is a culturally constructed fiction, no more valid (and no more conducive to a healthy society or to the overall well-being of humanity) than the idea that there is one ‘normal’ or ‘right’ ethnicity, gender, or culture.

3.) The social dynamics that manifest in regard to neurodiversity are similar to the social dynamics that manifest in regard to other forms of human diversity (e.g., diversity of ethnicity, gender, or culture). These dynamics include the dynamics of social power inequalities, and also the dynamics by which diversity, when embraced, acts as a source of creative potential.“

(Walker, 2014)

Implications of the Neurodiversity Paradigm

Walker proposes that transitioning from the dominant Pathology Paradigm into a Neurodiversity Paradigm requires monumental effort at every level, from individual to societal change in attitudes and values. The challenge is not due to how hard these three concepts of the Neurodiversity paradigm are to grasp. The challenge is in how the pathologising lens that dominates culture is perniciously ingrained in systems of education, healthcare, workplaces and communities. These are much harder to shift. In these spaces neurotypical ways of being are privileged and neurominorities have sadly even internalised neuronormative ideas about their sense of belonging in the world.

That is why the Neurodiversity movement is a social justice movement, to embrace and celebrate human diversity of neurocognitive styles, where no one way of being is privileged over another. Where differences are met with an attitude of respect and humility as opposed to superiority and saviourism. The true embracing of neurodiversity, according to Walker, at every level of society has the potential to be a source of creative synergy (2021), much like the beautiful aurora. Walker refers to French philosopher and sociologist Edgar Morin, who was a proponent of ‘The genius of diversity’, whereby it is believed that a collective intelligence emerges from honouring our diverse nature as humans. Walker explores this idea further in the conceptualisation of the term ‘neurocosmopolitanism’ to describe how we can truly embrace neurodiversity, I recommend a deep dive into her work if your curiosity, like mine, has been piqued.

We all have a lot to benefit from by embracing the neurodiversity paradigm, however neurodivergent voices needed to be lifted and included throughout.

Intersections of neurodiversity and the disability rights movement

In relation to the field of Disability studies, the language of the pathology paradigm is analogous to the medical model of disability which locates disability within an individual. The medical model permeates society today and is inherently disempowering for people who are neurodivergent as their existence is viewed as a ‘treatable’ medical condition. This results in silencing the voices of neurominorities and the social acceptance of the use of harmful behaviourist interventions (like ABA) on neurodivergent children that can result in trauma and disability unrelated to their neurodivergent identity. The medical model’s interpretation of neurodiversity shares an eerily similar history to other aspects of human diversity that have historically been wrongfully medicalised. For example homosexuality in the 1950’s and 60’s was treated as a psychiatric condition.

The Neurodiversity paradigm is by contrast analogous to the social model of disability which declares that a person doesn’t have a disability, instead, people are disabled by the extent to which their social environment fails to accommodate them. For example, people who are wheelchair users are more disabled in places that don't have wheelchair access. This is an example of a physical barrier that makes society disabling to people. Other social barriers exist such as people’s ableist attitudes towards the individual needs and differences of neurodivergent people and people who have impairments that require accomodations in order to participate fully in their communities.

Watch your language

Changing the language we use is essential to embracing the neurodiversity paradigm and social model of disability, shifting the dial on how society values and affirms different ways of being. Walker advocates for saying good riddance to person-first language, as it was created by ‘autistophobic bigots’ and has become ubiquitous in areas of professional discourse without implications being properly considered. To say someone is ‘a person with autism’ or ‘has autism’ is like calling a women ‘someone with femaleness’ or a gay person ‘someone with homosexuality’ it sounds bizarre and is inherently pathologising and suggestive of something being ‘wrong’ about that person. Other language shifts related to the way autism has historically been viewed are related to disability.

Take for example the phrase:

‘Autism is a disability’

Implications:

• Autism is seen as a deficit or pathology,

• This way of thinking about autism perpetuates the pathology paradigm and medical model of disability, framing autism as a problem located within the autistic individual.

Now consider the phrase:

‘Autistic people are disabled’

Implications:

• “Autistic people’s needs are not properly accommodated by the world around them in a way that enables societal participation” (Walker, 2021)

• Embraces frameworks of the neurodiversity paradigm and the social model of disability, makes way for approaches to address autistic wellbeing by “framing austistic disablement as being the result of correctible mismatches between autistic needs and societal accomodations” (Walker, 2021)

These are just some of many important language shifts to consider when looking to embody the values of the neurodiversity paradigm. In order for the neurodiversity movement to have meaning and depth, the voices of neurominorities need to be amplified and placed at the centre. Walker calls for neurodiversity to be promoted as an essential aspect of any institution, organisation and profession. I want to belong to a future where music therapy workplaces are committed to embracing neurodiversity through all levels of practice from making space for neurodivergent music therapists and supervisors to train and work and also creating neurodiverse management teams and hiring neurodivergent leaders within organisations and registration boards.

I’m thinking about my role as a neurotypical ally, needing to stand back and stay committed to promoting the correct use of language and advocating for neurodiversity in spaces dominated by values of neuronormativity. I hope to one day collaborate with neurodivergent writers and researchers to create bridges of communication and understanding here in Aotearoa. The neurodiversity movement is one that seeks to promote neurodiversity as an accepted biological fact about our local and global communities. Embracing neurodiversity becomes a source of immense creative potential where our collective intelligence as humanity can reach new possibilities that our attachment to neurotypical homogeny prevents. Walker has so much more to say on the topic and offers many hopeful ways forward for developing respectful and skillful communication and relationships, I hope you are inspired to read and engage with her transformative work.

References

British Association of Music Therapy. (2024, May 23). Jessica Leza (No. 85) [Audio podcast episode]. Music Therapy Conversations. Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7et9TdDMb26V9LRNKyzgw6?si=53d32f49398f4512

Davies, H. (2022). ‘Autism is a way of being’: An ‘insider perspective’ on neurodiversity, music therapy and social justice. British Journal of Music Therapy (London, England : 1995), 36(1), 16–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/13594575221090182

Foundations for Divergent Minds. (2023, July 28). Kassiane Asasumasu on Neurodivergent [Online recorded Interview]. Meet FDM series. Youtube.

Leza, J. (n.d). An introduction to Neurodiversity and Autistic Culture for (Music) Therapists. United States: La Migdalia Press.

Rickson, D. (2022). Music therapy with autistic children in Aotearoa, New Zealand = Haumanu ā-puoro mā ngā tamariki takiwātanga i Aotearoa. Palgrave Macmillan.

Walker, N. (2021) Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment and Postnormal Possibilities. Fort Worth, TX:Autonomous Press.

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