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Showing posts with the label neurodivergence

Auditory Processing Disorder And The Importance of Not Trying To 'Cure' Natural Variation.

Recently, an article was circulated through the UK media about "neurological issues affecting Gen Z", which were 'blamed' on "excessive reliance on noise-cancelling headphones". These 'neurological issues' are actually known as Auditory Processing Disorder, or APD. What Is APD? Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is a difficulty in the brain being able to distinguish background noise from speech, but with hearing tests returning "normal" results. This is a tricky issue, because some people in the early stages of hearing loss will struggle in exactly this way, however their hearing test may come back as in a 'normal range'. As with all medicine, sometimes doctors fail to pick something up that could be managed or may be part of a wider issue. However, where this is relevant to neurodiversity is that these issues combined with a normal result hearing test, are a hallmark for Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). APD can occur for a va...

Why ADHD and Autism Aren't What You've Been Told, and What That Means for Leadership

  ADHD. Autism. AuDHD. Autistic Spectrum Condition. Neurodivergence. The words have become a jumble. Social media influencers insist that so many  behaviours are "obvious neurodiversity traits!", that if you "did XYZ (relatively common) thing as a kid, you're definitely  neurodivergent as an adult!" that it's become a meaningless fog, with some people questioning whether autism and ADHD are actually "real" conditions at all. Whether it was their intention or not, the "Neurodiversity Influencers" have brought us right back to the "naughty kids who just need to be spanked more often" attitudes, only now they're expressed as "Self-absorbed Millennials and Gen Z who lack resilience and don't want to work".   (And sometimes still as "naughty kids who just need to be spanked more often.") There seem to be so many "behaviours" that are "clearly undiagnosed neurodivergence!" that, if we w...