Writer and Neurodiversity Advocate Jonathan Mooney says the words “disability” and “disorder” in diagnoses like learning disability and ADHD pathologize differences. These words make what are naturally occurring variations in the brain into problems inside of people through the lens of deficiency.
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Transcript
Learning disability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, those words don’t moralize difference, they pathologize difference. They make what are naturally occurring variations into problems inside of people through the lens of sickness or deficit. These are neurodiversities that have legitimate challenges, of course. Hey, I don’t spell well. I spell at a 3rd grade level, you know, that’s not because I’m dumb, that’s because of a neuro biologically based difference. And there’s also value to these differences, and strengths, and gifts, and talents. And that’s our work moving forward, to celebrate neurodiversity as valuable to the world.
For more information about learning disabilities, please visit LDOnLine.org. This video was made possible by a partnership between the National Education Association and WETA.