Neurodiverse vs Neurodivergent

As a coach I currently have 8+ years experience of working with neurodivergent people. From this space I wanted to share some of my knowledge. I hope it can help continue to encourage people to look with curiosity, openness and compassion beyond labels.

In this article, we’ll journey through:

1. How we use labels and language to make sense of our world
2. Why every brain, like every landscape, is uniquely shaped by its environment
3. The difference between being “neurodiverse” and “neurodivergent”
4. Neurodiversity seen through two lenses
   • The medical model (focusing on “fixing” differences)
   • The social model (highlighting natural variation)
5. Moving towards a neuro-affirming society

Yup. That’s a lot of ground to cover. So let’s begin.

The map is not the territory

Ever heard the phrase “the map is not the territory“? It’s a popular phrase amongst coaches.  It means that our descriptions of things aren’t the same as the things themselves.

Take an Ordnance Survey map for instance. The map represents a geographical area, displaying information like latitude, place names, and terrain types. It’s a simplification of reality as it can never capture the full essence of the place. To truly experience the territory, you must immerse yourself in it—climb that hill, spot that squirrel, feel the mud squelch beneath your feet.

And even if you do that daily, you start to notice not only that the map is not the territory, but that the territory actually keeps changing with the seasons. Nothing is permanent, things are constantly changing.

Also language simplifies

And just like we do maps, we do a similar thing with language.  From the time we’re little, we learn to use words, labels, and comparisons to understand and express things:

• “Your dog is bigger than our cat“
• “This cookie is sweeter than that one”
• “Today is colder than yesterday”

Using language, we are creating a mental map to help us navigate life. And that makes sense. The world is incredibly complex, with endless details and nuances. We need language to describe things. But just as a map can’t show you every tiny detail of a landscape, our words and labels can’t capture everything about reality. When we say “it’s colder in the Arctic than in Spain,” we’re simplifying a whole complex system of weather, geography, and seasonal changes into one simple comparison.

Territories & brains vary

No two places on Earth are exactly the same, no two brains are alike.

What is neurodiverse?

We often use words like “typical” or “different” to describe how people’s minds work. But in reality, we’re all different in our own special ways. It’s like comparing a sandy beach to a snowy mountain – both are amazing, just in their own unique style.

This is where the term neurodiversity comes in. It is an inclusive term, a way of saying that all our brains are wired differently, kind of like how biodiversity describes the variety of life on Earth. Just as you won’t find two identical forests, you won’t find two identical brains. As a group, we are all neurodiverse.

Why is this? Well, just like how wind, rain, and sunshine shape landscapes, our experiences shape our brains. The way we grew up, the care (or lack of care) we received when we were young, the things we’ve learned, the adventures and misfortunes we’ve had – all of these contribute to making our minds one-of-a-kind. Some of us might be quick thinkers, like rushing rivers. Others might process things more slowly, like gentle streams. Some might have incredible memories, towering like mountains, while others excel at creative thinking, blooming like colourful meadows.

The term neurodiverse was never meant to escribe one person. Becuase what is the language doing to that person? It is creating seperation, us vs. them. The whole point of neurodiversity is that it applies to everyone.

What is neurodivergent?

But being neurodiverse doesn’t mean you are automatically neurodivergent. Neurodivergent is something that might be acquired, through genetics, brain injury or upbringing.

Continuing with using nature as an analogy, you can think of it this way. If our brains were trees, neurodiverse would mean “wow, look at all these different types of trees in our forest!”. Neurodivergent would be more like saying “Check out that willow – it’s not like the other trees around here!” But remember, strength and resilience comes from diversity.

Neurodiverse vs neurodivergent

‘Fuzzy’ labels

Maps are used to represent and territories. 

Language is used to represent ideas.

Language is used to describe brains.

But language is fuzzy, and brains cannot be exactly measured.

We have words that come under the neurodivergent umbrella. Words that are meant to represent certain ‘brains’. Words like ADHD, OCD, ASD etc. But here is where it gets a bit messy. It’s tempting to try and simplify things, to make a neat “map” of how brains work. But just like with real maps, we’re dealing with a complex “territory” here. Every brain is its own special landscape, with hills and valleys all its own. The interior brain landscape is constantly changing (also known as neuroplasticity). So we’re trying to put a rigid label on something that isn’t rigid in nature.

You often hear with ASD, that if you meet one person with ASD you have met one. You could argue the same is true for any other neurodivergent label as labels can only describe a part of what we are.

Neurodiversity seen through two lenses

Currently, there are two main models that are being used to look at neurodiversity.

Medical model

The medical model focuses on the ‘impairment’ and what can be done to ‘fix’ the neurodivergent person or provide special services for them as an individual. This model is dominant in Western society. Differences are pathologised and treated as ‘disorders’ in a diagnostic categorisation tool. There are two more commonly used in the world, but when it comes to neurodiversity the DSM (Diagnostic manual for statistical disorders) is what almost every psychiatrist uses in the UK. To treat these disorders medication is needed to help your brain function ‘normally’.  

Below you can see a graph of the number of disorders listed in the DSMs over time. The first DSM was released in 1952, the latest version (DSM V) was released in 2013. The graph clearly shows an upwards trend. In other words, the number of recognised disorders has increased over time. To be exact, it has gone up by 280% in the last ~60 years.

This is one way of seeing how the medical model has gained more momentum over the years.

Social construct model

But what if ‘normality’ is a social construct. That there’s no such thing as a “disorder“? What if we’re all just part of a vast spectrum of human cognitive diversity? That there is strength in diversity. And that variations are naturally emergent, or dare I use the word…’normal’.

Variations of executive functioning

Lets use ADHD as an example. When we talk about being ADHD and brain differences, people often talk about ‘executive function’. Executive function skills—our ability to plan, remember, focus, control impulses, regulate emotions, and complete tasks—exist on a spectrum across the population. Like height or weight, these abilities naturally follow a bell curve distribution. Some people excel in these areas, while others find them more challenging. So for any executive function, 50% of population are below average, 50% of population are above average.

People labeled with ADHD often struggle with executive function skills, hence they find themselves of the left of this curve, as they often struggle to plan, organise, remember, focus. And back in caveman times, being left of the curve would not be too much a problem. For instance, there was no need to plan extensively or switch tasks loads. There wasn’t too much around that could distract you.

Changes in environment

Behaviours take place in a wider environmental context. So what happens if the environment changes?

In today’s day and age, problems arise because of high demands on executive function, especially in the Western environment. What was considered “normal” executive functioning even five years ago may no longer be sufficient for today’s demands. Our fast-paced, consumption driven, information-rich society is asking more of people ability to hold attention. For instance, social media makes it more difficult to sustain our attention.

Consequently, more and more people are finding themselves struggling with executive function challenges, regardless of whether they have a formal diagnosis. This isn’t because humans have changed—our society has. The gap between natural human cognitive variation and societal demands continues to widen, causing more individuals to experience overwhelm and difficulty keeping up.

Using the medical model, you would say this mismatch is an impairment a defect, a disorder. In the social construct model, there is no ‘disorder’. There are just variations of brains, variations of executive functioning.

Towards a neuro-affirming society

So where does that leave us?

A struggle doesn’t equate to failure. What actually turns abnormality/disorder (the medical perspective) or variation (the social perspective) into a disability is an insufficient person-society fit. This perspective invites us to question: Should we be adapting people to fit to society’s demands, or should we be creating a society that better accommodates our natural cognitive diversity? Should we mould employees to fit employee’s demands, or should we create organisations that fully utilise the spectrum of neurodiversity.

And what can we do to make our society more accessible for a neurodivergent person?

If we want to embrace equality and diversity in meaningful ways, formal diagnoses can offer value. If we don’t have these categories or labels, you could argue that we might risk centering a neurotypical experience. So we can use terms as neurodivergent to highlight inequalities, and from that space offer provide people that struggle individualised support by looking with curiosity and compassion beyond the label.

Just as a map isn’t the territory, a label isn’t the person. A label leaves out context. We’re all unique, complex, and constantly evolving—just like nature itself. Perhaps it’s time to hold labels more lightly, and start appreciating the diversity of human minds. After all, in nature, strength comes from diversity. Why should our brains be any different?