How prevalent is neurodiversity within academia? I’ve carried out a brief search of the published literature on this topic and can find nothing! The research on prevalence in any context is patchy with the focus being largely on childhood prevalence rates, and often the focus being very much on autism ‘disorders’, co-morbidities, and those categorised as ‘severe’ with high support needs.
It’s my gut instinct that the percentage of neurodivergent people in academia is higher than the percentage in the general population. Why? The benefits of being neurodivergent such as being able to hyperfocus and research a special interest to expert level is a luxury that other industries do not always afford the autistic person. Being able to move from interest to interest, generating new ideas satisfies the ADHD brain in ways that other contexts may not offer.
I don’t know for sure of course, and my feeling is a hunch based on my specific experience. Each neurodivergent person is an individual with different strengths and weaknesses, but I see that diversity of thinking as being a real benefit in the academic context. That is not to disregard the real lived experience of some people, with high levels of unemployment in the neurodivergent population due to lack of understanding and lack of truly inclusive workplaces.
Maybe I should think about doing my own research into this area?…
The increasing rates of diagnosis in women certainly is recognised in the latest research, and there are even examples of researchers that take a much less deficit approach than the typical, and use the term “Autism Spectrum Condition’ rather than the negative “Autism Spectrum Disorder” (Rynkiewicz et al, 2019). However, the focus is almost exlusively on the negative impact of autism. While I agree that living with autism and being ignorant of its role in my life has been negative, the impact of a late diagosis has been overwhelmingly positive (so far, and maybe it is early days).
I’m interested to see more research about the positive impact of neurodivergent thinking rather than the pathologising and negative elements. Life with AuDHD can be challenging but it can also be amazing.
References
- Rynkiewicz A, Janas-Kozik M, Słopień A. Girls and women with autism. Psychiatr Pol. 2019 Aug 31;53(4):737-752. doi: 10.12740/PP/OnlineFirst/95098. Epub 2019 Aug 31. PMID: 31760407.