respect their right to decline if they are not comfortable. Do not pressure the individual to conform to neurotypical norms such as eye contact and hand shaking.
PART 1
NEUROCOGNITIVE DISABILITIES
touch can be perceived as threats, triggering a fight, flight or freeze response. Environments that are too stimulating or unpredictable can become overwhelming very quickly. Globally, approximately 5.6% of trauma-exposed individuals develop PTSD. It is significantly more common in women (around 5.2%) than men (1.8%). Source: National Institute of Mental Health
Neurodivergence describes individuals whose neurological development and functioning differ from what is
typically considered “normal” or “neurotypical.” This includes people with conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette syndrome, and others. Being neurodivergent is not a deficit but rather reflects natural variations in human neurological development. They may face challenges in social communication, sensory processing, executive function, and emotional regulation. Individuals with PTSD often have heightened or altered sensory processing. Everyday stimuli like loud noises, bright lights, crowds or unexpected Eight Myths about Autism by Peter Wharmby 1. Autistic people don’t feel empathy. Though some may not, it seems the majority of us feel enormous amounts of empathy, even for non-living things, and especially for animals. 2. Autistic people can’t make eye contact. We can. Some of us don’t seem to mind it at all, whilst the many of us who hate it can force ourselves to when we feel its necessary, especially adults who have learned this the hard way. 3. Autistic males are far more common than autistic females. The ratio is rapidly shifting to being more balanced as diagnostic understanding improves. 4. Autistic people don’t have a sense of humor. I mean, some of us don’t, and some of us have what may be seen as a ‘different’ sense of humor, but there are a lot of funny autistic people out there, including those who do comedy professionally.
A WARM WELCOME • Respect Individual Differences:
Recognize that neurodivergent individuals have diverse experiences, strengths, and challenges. • Listen and Validate: Listen attentively to the person’s perspectives, experiences, and preferences. • Respect Interests: Respect the individual’s personal space, boundaries, and ways of 5. Autistic people have learning disabilities. In fact a surprisingly low percentage of autistic people have co-occurring learning disabilities. However, people with learning disabilities are much more likely to be autistic too, which might be why this idea exists. 6. Autistic people are all antisocial. Many of us may be asocial from trauma associated with social interaction, but it seems many of us are quite gregarious and even extroverted. Admittedly there are some of us, like me, who are much happier in solitude. 7. Autistic people are all STEM subject specialists. Though plenty are, there are many of us who have skills, jobs and qualifications in the humanities, arts and other fields. 8. Autistic people are all super-gifted in some way. Though some of us might be skilled in certain areas, and some of us might have excellent memories or be hyperlexic, plenty of us are perfectly average.
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