One of my goals this year is to read more about neurodiversity and belonging. I’m posting a book list here as a start to my notes:
- Two books that I find most useful for my work and thinking:
- The Neurodiversity Edge: The Essential Guide to Embracing Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Differences for Any Organization, by Maureen Dunn
- The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work, by Ludmila N. Praslova PhD
- Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking, by Julia Bascom
- Empire of Normality: Neurodiversity and Capitalism, by Robert Chapman
- Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, by Steve Silberman
- Workplace NeuroDiversity Rising, by Lyric Rivera
- Next up to be read: Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides, by Geoffrey Cohen
I’m looking forward to learning more and discussing with others for future work.
Some quick notes from The Neurodiversity Edge: The Essential Guide to Embracing Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Differences for Any Organization, by Maureen Dunn:
- Linear thinking: “straightforward, sequential path from premises to conclusion, without loops, jumps, or divergences” (78)
- Lateral thinking: “path marked by those loops, jumps, and divergences” (78); “Lateral thinking may also involve combinatorial thought processes, backward planning, or looking at an old problem from an alternative view (79).
- Associative thinking: “focused purely on connecting the similarities and drawing connections among two or more concepts by combining or associating concepts that don’t typically go together.” (79)
- Hyperfocus: “ability to intensely focus attention on a task for long stretches of time” (81).
- Mental rotation and 3D rotation: “Mental rotation (MR) allows for the interior visualization of mental objects in three-dimensional space. It confers a strength in the ability to imagine via mental transportation how an object would appear in space from a particular perspective versus alternative perspectives” (81)
- Visual thinking (81)
- Dyslexic thinking: “Dyslexic thinking encapsulates skills such as creative problem-solving, empathy, synthesizing information, big picture thinking, and leadership.” (82)
- First-principles approach: “First principles thinking, which is sometimes referred to as reasoning from a first-principles methodology or approach, starts with breaking down a problem or issue into its most basic or essential elements. Then assumptions are challenged by asking critical questions with the goal of understanding the most fundamental factual truth. In my experience, this process can be understood as evolving inside a person as a consequence of uneven or insufficient access to top-down conclusions that may be more readily available to neurotypical individuals through social transmission during development.” (83)
- Pattern thinking: “Pattern thinking is a cognitive process where observation of hidden patterns becomes clear to the observer and the connections between concepts, events, or objects form into a meaningful patterned arrangement in the mind.” (84)
- Bottom-up thinking: “Bottom-up thinking differs from what we call ‘top-down’ conceptual processing, which is believed to be the norm for many neurotypicals. Example of bottom-up thinking: perceiving (at a first glance) all the individual trees and seeing all the unique details, including noticing how each tree is slightly different from each other–rather than first perceiving the more general concept of a forest.” (84)
- Reverse engineering: “Reverse engineering often involves starting in the mind with the end result and working backwards to disassemble and grasp all the component parts, which can then be rearranged or reassembled in the mind. Like pattern thinking, this method of problem solving also uncovers hidden structures and reveals important details about how an idea, product, or object was initially designed, as well as how it can be reformed or redesigned in a different way.” (85)