We're Shaped By How Our Brains And Bodies Work Not Just By What We Understand

Neurodiversity is a relatively new term but something we have understood, taught clients about and honored for many years. My husband has lived with extreme dyslexia and dysarthria (mispronouncing of words) paired with an extremely high IQ, some clear signs of his more right hemisphere dominance. This made us aware personally of neurological differences and that they weren’t necessarily just negative but were part of how a person processes their world. In my husband’s case that 'processing' was often interesting and very enlightened and sometimes humorous. Some of the unique aspects of NeuroTherapy Training came out of his looking at the world and the field of psychology in nontraditional ways. Our emphasis on examining neurological dominance and getting people thinking about how their lives are shaped by the inner working of their brains and bodies began very early in our work.

We are shaped by how our brains and bodies work not just by what our minds understand. That is a lot of what NeuroTherapy Training is about. Teaching people to better understand and honor their ‘neurodiversity’ and to enable the brain and body to work at optimum efficiency to meet the demands of the world most effectively in ways that come natural to them.

I just finished an excellent book, The Power of Neurodiversity Unleashing the Advantages of Your Differently Wired Brain By Thomas Armstrong. It takes a fascinating look at different neurological ways of functioning, ADD/ADHD, Asperberger’s Sydrome/Autuism, Dyslexia, Mood Disorders (Depression), Anxiety Disorders (OCD, Panic attacks, etc.) and the Intellectually Challenged. It views them through a different lens. Some things it examines are:

1.Their potential positive function in evolution of the species,
2.Their benefits
3.Ways of constructing life to help a person be more comfortable and effective functioning differently in a world with, sometimes narrow, values and demands for thinking and acting in certain ways.

Understanding and celebrating neurodiversity is a topic so close to our hearts and our work. I am going to talk more about the topic and the book in the primary article of the next newsletter, so stay tuned. If you aren’t subscribed yet, here is a link to the current newsletter. NeuroTherapy Newsletter: The Challenge of Change