We’re told from a young age that everyone is the same on the inside. While the sentiment behind this idea is well-intentioned, it isn’t entirely true.

Judy Singer pioneered the term “neurodiversity” in 1998.

Advocates and activists disagree on many of the specifics of this idea. In many ways, neurodiversity is a term that has yet to find a firm definition, and remains in a state of flux over what it means. In spite of that, the widespread adoption of the idea in business circles and among the media has largely been a positive development. For neurodiverse individuals, the growth of this term and a broader understanding of the ways that different neurological structures can be an asset, rather than a hindrance, has often been empowering and liberating.

To begin, neurodiversity is not the negative stereotypes of mental illness you see in pop culture like the movie Split, for example. Instead, neurodiversity as a term is used as an umbrella phrase describing the different ways our brains produce the chemicals that allow it to function. This means that it applies to brains that allow individuals to function within societal norms as well as the brains that lie outside of them.

That compliance with societal norms allows the term to break down into two categories. Those individuals who don't struggle to meet the needs of the average workplace are referred to as "neurotypical." Like the term "cis," which describes gender compliance, this term is not a slur and instead describes brain functionality equivalent to that impossible "normal."

Individuals who live with ADD, ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, depression, anxiety, and other types of neurodiversity operate under the label "neurodivergent" or "neuroatypical."

Because living with a neurological divergence typically prevents a person from actively complying with societal norms, those individuals are often said to have a disability. Given public understanding of the term and the way it has evolved over years of use, this isn’t entirely incorrect. Rhetoric aside, however, there are some neurodivergences that allow the applicable person to benefit from that divergence’s symptoms.

That is why the term "neurodiversity" now moves to take the place of "disability" when describing divergences like those previously listed. Neurodiversity forces those who hear it to acknowledge that, again, there is no "normal" brain. Instead, there are numerous variations on brain behavior that cause different people to act as they do.

Because information about neurodivergency is slowly trickling out to a long-misinformed public, it’s easy to believe that neurodivergence is one of the above things. To help make neurodivergent people feel more accepted, we must understand neurodivergence as a biological fact.