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Living Language Phrase of the Week: Neurodiversity

05.13.2007

neurodiversity [noo.roh.di.vur.suh.tee, -dy.vur.suh.tee]

–noun
1.The variety of non-debilitating neurological behaviors and abilities exhibited by the human race.

–Also
neuro-diversity

–Adjectiveneurodiverse

Earliest Citation:

"The common assumption in cognitive studies these days is that the human brain is the most complicated two-and-a-half pounds of matter in the known universe. With so much going on in a brain, the argument goes, the occasional bug is inevitable: hence autism and other departures from the neurological norm. ISNT [Institute for the Study of the Neurologically Typical] suggests another way of looking at this. Neurodiversity may be every bit as crucial for the human race as biodiversity is for life in general. Who can say what form of wiring will prove best at any given moment? Cybernetics and computer culture, for example, may favor a somewhat autistic cast of mind."

— Harvey Blume, "Neurodiversity," The Atlantic Monthly, September 1, 1998

 

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