Nueroterminology

Terminology:  Neurodiversity, Neurovariant, Neurodivergent, and Neurotypical

These words are all related, but none of them are the same; none can be used interchangeably, and none imply disorder.

Neurodiversity describes the many variations in how humans sense, focus, perceive, process, respond, and learn. These variations are sometimes called “neurovariants”  to emphasize the less visible neurological properties (i.e., senses, emotions, learning styles, etc.) that accompany the higher visibility external traits (i.e., habits, behaviors, preferences, work styles, personality/character traits, etc.).  In short, a “neurovariant” describes a specific way individuals experience and interact with their environment.  For example, high impulsivity is just one neurovariant on the impulsivity scale.  But the impulsivity scale itself represents the full potential of neurodiversity in impulsiveness (i.e., low, moderate, high, medium-high, etc.)       

The word “neurotypical” describes the set of neurovariants present in the majority of people and those that are deemed “typical” by cultural standards.  The word “neurodivergent” describes the set of neurovariants that are not present in the majority or those that are deemed “atypical” by cultural standards.  It is important to emphasize that the word “neurodivergent” does not imply “disordered”, but instead describes the rarity of certain neurovariants.  

A person whose neurovariants are predominantly neurotypical might describe themself as a “neurotypical” person.  Whereas a person whose neurovariants are predominantly neurodivergent might describe themself as a “neurodivergent” person.  Again, the term “neurodivergent,” as it relates to a person, does not imply “disordered”, but instead describes their rarity within the general population.