NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF DIVERSITY
NDIVS Research and Education seeks to include information and research from many disciplines, thereby accelerating the understanding and acceptance of neurodivergence worldwide.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOTYPE
Coming soon on this topic: A survey of 2022-2024 research.
Featured Article
IN MEMORIAM: James C. Harris, MD (1940–2021)
Dr. James C. Harris
The neuropsychological phenotype includes attention/arousal, long-term episodic memory, executive function, and social cognitive deficits. People with ASD generally have uneven profiles on subtests of versions of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), in contrast to IQ-matched controls. The major differences are on subtests dealing with verbal abstraction, sequencing, visuospatial skills, and rote memory. These deficits are thought to impair normal language acquisition and social functioning. The “theory of mind” paradigm may be assessed. Theory of mind refers to the ability of normal children to attribute mental states, that is, beliefs, desires, and intentions, to themselves and to other people as a way of predicting and making sense of the mental states of others. Metarepresentational deficits are thought to impair an autistic person’s comprehension of the mental states of others’ behavior. Individuals with an ASD may show significantly poorer performance on tests of their understanding of others’ beliefs and knowledge. However, an autistic person’s social problems are not fully accounted for by conceptual impairment in interpersonal understanding, although this may be an essential feature. As Kanner proposed, children with ASD lack a capacity to form affective contact with others and to develop intimate friendships as they grow older, despite their wish to do so. Their lack of understanding of others’ beliefs and desires may not be an adequate explanation for the quality of their non-verbal communication disorder and relationship difficulties. Although executive dysfunction may be present, it is not a core neuropsychological deficit in ASD. Continue reading
Article Info
Autism Spectrum Disorder
in Neurobiology of Brain Disorders, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-398270-4.00006-9
James C. Harris
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Pediatrics, Mental Health, and History of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING
Coming soon on this topic: A survey of 2022-2024 research.
Featured Article by Madison McKee
Dr. Madison McKee
Autism and ADHD are not annoyances or bad personality traits that one must learn to overcome. Numerous studies have demonstrated physiological differences in the brain that contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. Deficits in behavioral regulation, cognitive functioning, and social skills are often misunderstood and under-represented, leading to the marginalization of individuals with ASD, ADHD, and comorbidity of ASD and ADHD, which directly influences the tendency for these individuals to develop depressive, anxiety, eating, and substance abuse disorders. Academia is a routine struggle for individuals with ADHD and should be adjusted to accommodate the limitations and requirements of this diagnosis. Social skills are greatly inhibited by ASD and the Theory of Mind behind relationships is quite different between autistic and neurotypical individuals. The comorbidity of ADHD and ASD proves to present unique challenges to individuals with the disorder and represents the merriment of both symptom clusters. Abnormal development of the frontal lobe, midbrain, and corpus callosum result in the deficits that characterize these disorders. The presence of these deviations provide evidence that neurodivergence is a physical, lifelong condition. While a plethora of studies have investigated what the effect of structural and damaged brain regions may be, few have sought to understand the experience of living with neurodivergence. Future research should focus on targeting the frontal lobes, particularly the corpus callosum, default mode network, and caudate to better understand how abnormalities in these structures form and their implications for developing ADHD and Autism. Neurodevelopmentally different people are not disabled, as would be indicated by the word “disorder,” but simply have a different way of integrating, organizing, and internalizing information and the world—in other words, of being in the world. Continue reading
Article Info
Cognitive Neuropsychology of Autism, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders and the Role that Neurodivergence Plays on Social Skills, Cognition and Behavior
in D.U.Quark, 8 (1). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/duquark/vol8/iss1/5
Madison McKee, Duquesne University
AFFECT AND EMOTION
Coming soon on this topic: A survey of 2022-2024 research.
Featured Article by Deborah French
Deborah French, M.Sc.
When we are emotionally triggered, our stress hormones obscure our focus and inhibit our ability to make proactive choices, which can lead to unfavourable outcomes. Ideally, when this happens, we would like to recognise that we are emotionally triggered and take a moment to pause and adjust to that reality. This will deactivate the amygdala and reduce the level of stress hormones in our body. Doing so will allow us to consider how to respond proactively, potentially leading to more favourable outcomes. What if, however, we aren’t even aware of what it means or that we have the ability to make a proactive choice? Research suggests neurodivergent individuals are inhibited in differentiating between emotional processing and proactive decision-making. Challenges in socio-communication, socio-emotional regulation, and empathy for others limit the accurate interpretation of social information and how best to use it to consider an appropriate response in any given social interaction. Unfortunately, we need to use these fundamental social skills repeatedly anytime and anywhere we engage with others, which happens many times daily. For individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), constant exposure to social interaction and the subsequent failure to effectively engage with others generates continued activation of the amygdala and high levels of stress that are sustained over a long time. Continue reading
Article Info
Neurodiversity and Exacerbation of the Emotional Reaction
in Psychology Today 2024
Deborah French, M.Sc.
www.deborahfrench.com
BEHAVIOR, INTERESTS, ACTIVITIES
Coming soon on this topic: A survey of 2022-2024 research.
Featured Article by Melissa H. Black et al.
Dr. Melissa H. Black
Productive or meaningful occupations such as employment or education are important to promoting positive outcomes (Chen et al., 2023; Clarke et al., 2021; Jahoda et al., 2008; Kopelman-Rubin et al., 2020; Randall et al., 2023). In adults with intellectual disability employment contributed to well-being and autonomy (Jahoda et al., 2008) and was associated with greater happiness, social contact, and QoL (Clarke et al., 2021; Randall et al., 2023). In these studies, while other forms of productive occupation were also associated with positive outcomes, engaging in independent vocational activities (Clarke et al., 2021) or competitive employment (Randall et al., 2023) seemed to confer the most benefits. Engaging in other meaningful productive occupations was also important. For example, involvement in an advocacy group supported empowerment and self-esteem among women with intellectual disability (Clarke et al., 2015). Activities, such as attending religious service, undertaking household chores, working or engaging in other community events, also protected against the negative effects of mental health conditions among women with intellectual disability who had mental health conditions (Taggart et al., 2009) and for a woman with Fragile X Syndrome provided opportunities to contribute to their community, contributing to feelings of mastery and belonging (Fourie & Theron, 2012). Attending day centres, going shopping, or engaging in other activities were also reported to contribute to happiness and life satisfaction by adults with learning disabilities (Haigh et al., 2013). In fact, “keeping busy” was identified as important for mental health among individuals with intellectual disabilities (Conder et al., 2015). For children, solitary goal-directed play predicted lower internalizing symptoms in girls with and without ADHD and was particularly protective for girls who experience peer rejection (Mikami & Hinshaw, 2003). In their later study, however, the opposite effect was observed, with goal-directed play predicting less desirable outcomes (Mikami & Hinshaw, 2006). Continue reading
Article Info
Resilience in the face of neurodivergence: A scoping review of resilience and factors promoting positive outcomes
in Clinical Psychology Review Volume 113, November 2024, 102487
Melissa H. Black a,*, Johan Helander a,b, Julie Segers c, Cecilia Ingard d, Jo Bervoets e, Vincent Grimaldi de Puget f, Sven Bolte a,g,h
a Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet & Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
b Habilitation and Health, Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
c Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
d Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, Department of Social Work and Criminology, University of Gavle, Gavle, Sweden
e University of Antwerp, Department of Philosophy, Compost Collective, Belgium
f Ecole des Ponts Business School, Paris, France
g Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
h Curtin Autism Research Group, Curtin School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY
Coming soon on this topic: A survey of 2022-2024 research.
Featured Article by Kristien Hens and Leni Van Goidsenhoven
Dr. Kristien Hens
The dominant discourse surrounding neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD emphasizes biological explanations. Neurodevelopmental conditions are conceived as different types of brains, the result of different types of genes. This way of thinking is present both in medical research and in clinical practice. Indeed, it is widely acknowledged that the idea of having a biological diagnosis helps people see beyond blame and guilt. It aids acceptance. However, simplistic approaches to biology risks neglecting the experiences and stories of autistic people in favor of finding etiological causes. At the same time, there is growing awareness that risks, functioning, and resilience are not solely defined by genes and brains but have a cultural and experiential component as well. Furthermore, atypical cognitive trajectories are not straightforwardly associated with poor outcomes. [W]e describe the concept of developmental diversity as an alternative to more categorical approaches to neurodevelopmental conditions. We explore how dynamic models of life other possibilities to look at neurodevelopmental conditions differently: rather than seeing autistic people as people with fundamental flaws in their genes or software faults in their brains that have to be explained, autism appears as a phenomenon that exists in interaction with the context, as a meaningful reaction to the environment. We explore what it would mean for research to go from a diagnosis based approach to a developmental diversity approach that will define wellbeing and functioning in a more granular way across developmental trajectories. We argue that this would mean incorporating lived experiences into biological research and going beyond genes and environment dichotomies. Next to yielding a more complete picture on the phenomenon of autism, we describe how an approach that takes developmental diversity as a starting point offers a new way to look at existing challenges of autism research, such as how to deal with the significant overlap between diagnosis. Our hypothesis is that thinking with developmental diversity rather than categorical difference both represents an opportunity for a more inclusive society, and fundamentally can alter the way we perform research. Continue reading
Article Info
Developmental diversity: Putting the development back into research about developmental conditions
in Front. Psychiatry 13:986732. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.986732
Kristien Hens and Leni Van Goidsenhoven
Department of Philosophy, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
TESTING NEURODIVERGENCE
Coming soon on this topic: A survey of 2022-2024 research.
Featured Article by Megan Neff
Dr. Megan Neff
The Autism Quotient (AQ)
A standard screener for Autism includes 50 questions and measures how many Autistic traits a person has.
Pros: It has been widely used in many populations and studies—one of the few screeners specifically created for Autistic adults without co-occurring intellectual disabilities.
Cons: It may miss high-maskers, extroverted Autistic people, or imaginative Autistic people.
Link: https://psychology-tools.com/test/autism-spectrum-quotient
Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q)
The CAT-Q measures the level of Autistic camouflaging (masking, social compensation, and assimilation).
Pros: It helps identify Autistic individuals who do not currently meet diagnostic criteria due to their ability to mask their autistic traits.
Cons: There are reasons other than Autism that a person may have a high masking score. CAT-Q may have a higher rate of false positives.
Link: https://embrace-autism.com/cat-q/#test
The Ritvo Autism Asperger’s Diagnostic Scale: (RAADS)
The RAADS is designed to identify adults who may have previously “escaped diagnosis” by focusing less of external behaviors and more on internal experiences.
Pros: Focuses more on internal experiences than outward behaviors. Has a high sensitivity, which is good for distinguishing Autism from other conditions (Bipolar, PTSD, Social Anxiety).
Cons: Long administration with a complex answer structure. Many dislike how questions are phrased
Link: https://www.aspietests.org/
Adult Repetitive Behaviours Questionnaire-2 (RBQ-2A)
The RBQ-2A measures the degree of repetitive behavior and restricted interest (criteria B). I am a big fan of this screener as most focus on criteria A (social-communication differences).
Pros: Language is respectful and clearly worded. While most screeners focus on criteria A, this measurement captures Criteria B of Autism, which helps distinguish Autism from social anxiety, PTSD, and more.
Cons: No cons to note. One consideration is that ADHD may impact scores. Autistic-ADHDers may have lower scores here.
Link: https://embrace-autism.com/rbq-2a/
The Aspie Quiz
The Aspie Quiz measures Autistic and neurotypical traits in five domains: talent, perception, communication, relationship, and social.
Pros: Avoids pathologizing language! Respectful and clearly worded questions. Detailed and visual feedback that is very Autistic friendly, and easy to understand.
Cons: Has not been independently validated in a clinical setting and is not widely recognized within the medical establishment.
Link: https://rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php
Article Info
Testing Neurodivergence
in neurodivergentinsights.com
Megan Ann Neff, PhD