Understanding Neurodivergence

Every garden is diverse. No two plants grow the same way, and the garden is stronger for it. Human minds are the same.

What is neurodivergence?

Neurodiversity means that human brains naturally differ in how they think, learn, feel and sense the world. There is no single "normal" brain.

A person who is neurodivergent has a mind that works differently from what most schools, jobs and systems were built for.

I came to understand this through handedness. The world I grew up in, shaped by post-Roman European ways, was built for right-handed people. Even the word "right" means correct, as if the right hand were the right way to write. I don't see it that way. A left hand is not a wrong hand, and a different mind is not a wrong mind.

People often use the word neurodivergent for autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette's and other differences. Some people have a diagnosis. Many don't. Both are welcome here.

The word grew out of autistic online communities in the 1990s. Sociologist Judy Singer put it into print in 1998.

How I see it: when we know how a mind works, we can work with it, and move through the world with more ease, flow and grace.

What science says

Science is slowly shifting from looking only at struggles to also looking at strengths. Early studies suggest:

• ADHD is linked with divergent thinking: many ideas, quickly.

• Autism is linked with strong, focused attention.

• Dyslexia may be a specialization in exploring: seeing the big picture and spotting patterns others miss.

This research is young. Every person is different, and no label tells you who someone is. But it points to something farmers already know: different strengths make a healthier whole.

What society says

There are two common ways of seeing neurodivergence.

• As something to fix. This view focuses on what a person can't do and tries to make them fit.

• As a different way of being. This view sees both strengths and needs. It asks how the world can change to fit more kinds of minds.

Both views exist in the world today. Here, we celebrate difference rather than treat it, while honoring that many people still need real support.

My intention is to hold space for safe, gentle self-inquiry. Like a seed, a mind can stay in survival mode inside its shell, holding its potential within the pod. With safety, it can sprout and grow out into the light of the world and the garden, nourished by the sun (sol) by day (día).

What helps every mind thrive

A world built for one kind of mind can feel like the wrong soil for many others. With the right soil, every mind can grow. Three kinds of support matter most.

• Financial: work that fits the mind. Roles built around real strengths, such as designing, finishing, noticing, connecting or making. Small, hands-on enterprises like fermenting, garden building and hosting gatherings can offer that kind of work.

• Emotional: belonging. Small groups, clear rhythms, room to step away, and people who meet you as you are. Time in the garden, and a shared table, can do a lot of quiet healing.

• Spiritual: meaning. Knowing that your mind is part of creation's design, not a mistake in it. Faith, gratitude and care for the land give that knowing a home.

The Homestead Hangouts, Seasons of the Soul and Mission Ferments are some of the ways I tend this soil.

A world that can hold every mind

The world can seem built against different minds. Yet it is fully capable of holding all of them, just as a healthy farm needs every kind of plant and creature.

When we stop asking minds to fit one mold, (even 'mold' has its divine order in creation) and start matching them with the work, plants and people where they thrive, everyone gains. From pain to gain.

New here? See where your mind might fit.