Divergent Mind

My review

The first two parts of the book were very educational about different types of neurodivergence and how white AFAB people experience the symptoms differently based on not just socialization, but also processing differences from what most white AMAB people experience. Covering all neurodivergencies (not just autism and ADHD), this book is for anyone seeking education. However, I'm also white, and probably raised in a similar environment as the author. Though she mentions differences in needs, race, status, etc., it's autobiographical as much as it's educational. That is to say: not highly researched scientific literature that provides perspectives from different backgrounds.

Keep in mind this is a general overview with summaries, it does not go into specific detail about anything. It will be useful for learning more about something where you have limited knowledge, not for diagnosing or defending a diagnosis. Also, it's a bit out of date, using old terminology and not including any of the recent research, which is a BIG gap. Always check the dates when reading books like this: if you want to know what's most recent, this book is not for you. If you aren't neurodivergent, however, it is a good supplement to other more recent research, if you want to learn more about it.

What I found most useful and helpful was Part 3, where the book dives more specifically into Well-Being, Home, and Work (literally the chapter titles), with practical tips for navigating your different environments. I'd like to see a full book about this that explores other environments, relationships, and connections, but these chapters gave me a good starting point. I'd never heard about sensory integration therapy and it's too bad the resources I've found are for children.

tags: #topic/disability #topic/autism
title: Divergent Mind : Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You
author: [Jenara Nerenberg]
category: [Psychology]

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.

publisher: HarperCollins
published: 2020-03-24
total pages: 243
isbn: 0062876813 9780062876812

created: 2025-01-07 20:43:17
updated: 2025-01-07 20:43:17