Neurodiversity and art therapy

What is neurodiversity?

Neurodiversity is ‘the diversity of human minds, the infinite variation in neurocognitive functioning within our species.’ (Walker, 2021). As Nick Walker helpfully points out, neurodiversity itself is a biological fact and inherently neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’. There are many different kinds of minds, and this is simply a feature of our endlessly fascinating universe.

Nonetheless, some authors think that ‘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?’ (Blume, 1998).

The so-called neurodiversity ‘paradigm’ offers a different way of thinking about neurocognitive differences like dyspraxia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attention deficit disorder (ADD), Tourette’s syndrome, dyslexia, autism, Down’s syndrome, and other ways of being that have traditionally been understood as deficits or disorders needing treatment.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive’. Rather than seeing the differences described above as problems to be fixed, perhaps we actually need these different kinds of minds, and their unique ways of working, to sustain and nurture our communities?

Why neurodiversity is relevant today

More and more people are being recognised as having bodyminds (Dychtwald, 1986) that work differently from what has traditionally been considered ‘normal’. These folks often refer to themselves as ‘neurodiverse’, ‘neurodivergent’, or as being members of neurominority groups. Each person has their own language preferences, so it’s wise to ask every ‘neurospicy’ person you meet how they want to be known.

Importantly, the neurodiversity paradigm helps me understand that, as an autistic person, I’m not broken or malfunctioning. I don’t need fixing! I simply have a bodymind that thinks, moves and responds in ways that are different from those of you who identify as ‘neurotypical’.

Communication and relationships are two important areas where neurodivergent folks often do things differently. Thinking, attention, emotion and language processing often work differently, and sensory differences are also incredibly common in the neurodivergent community. None of these things are necessarily difficult, ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’, but we live in a world not particularly well suited to neurodivergent individuals’ ways of being. So it’s important that we start to better recognise neurodiversity, understand how it might impact or disable neurodivergent folks living in predominantly neurotypical societies, and learn how we can help them better.

Neurodiversity and art therapy

Lots of neurodivergent people come to art therapists for help. Feeling worried or unhappy isn’t an inevitable consequence of being neurodivergent, but living in a world where your needs aren’t well met, and where your unique way of being is usually described in terms of disorder, deficits, problems and difficulties, can be distressing.

Art therapists are well placed to support neurodivergent people, especially those who find words challenging or don’t use speech to communicate, because art-making and images offer a non-verbal language for communicating our experience. You don’t need to use words in an art therapy session, and you don’t have to be able to explain or justify how you experience things. An image can literally show someone else how you see the world, and how your perspective is different from theirs.

In the wider arts therapies community (e.g. in music therapy), more and more professionals are identifying themselves as neurodivergent (e.g., Leza, 2023), and writing about how we can make the arts therapies more inclusive and accessible for neurodivergent people – both for service users and the practitioners who support them. For example, we can think about the physical environment and sensory differences when we set up our therapy spaces.

How a neurodiversity-affirming approach can help

Taking a neurodiversity-affirming approach to art therapy means that art therapists recognise and value neurodivergent service users, and explicitly celebrate their unique strengths and capacities.

Art therapists can witness and validate the experience of neurodivergent folks and resist the urge to give advice about how to do things ‘better’ or ‘be more normal’! A neurodiversity-affirming approach promotes self-acceptance, self-advocacy and the development of a positive neurodivergent identity to help our service users develop their confidence. And of course, art therapists can also support service users to communicate and explore the things they find difficult, and try to help them find things that could help.

Outside of the art therapy space, it’s important to use neurodiversity-affirming language when we talk about our work with neurodivergent service users, and to seek out opportunities to learn about neurodivergent experience and culture, ideally from neurodivergent people themselves.

Keeping up to date with contemporary understandings of neurodiversity helps art therapists meet their professional commitment to practising in a way that supports equality, diversity and inclusion (HCPC, 2024). Art therapists can advocate for the rights and needs of neurominority groups and might even become neurodiversity activists! All of these activities help neurodivergent service users to feel understood and valued, and they contribute to the creation of a more inclusive and accessible world for all of us.

Neurodivergent service users of art therapy say it feels good to be seen and listened to, and sometimes even challenged, without being made to feel ashamed of who they are. They’ve said that they now understand their ways of being in the world better, and that helps them feel glad about being neurodivergent. Some feel more confident in responding to their emotions, others say they are better able to communicate with important people in their lives. And some clients simply say that art therapy sessions are “lovely” (Wright, 2023).

References

• ‘No culture can live it attempts to be exclusive’, Allauthor
• ‘Neurodiversity: On the neurological underpinnings of geekdom’, Blume, H. The Atlantic (1998)
• ‘Bodymind’, Dychtwald, K. Pantheon (1986) (Original work published in 1977)
• ‘Equality, diversity and inclusion’, Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) (2024)
• ‘An introduction to neurodiversity and autistic culture for (music) therapists’. Leza, J. La Migdalia Press. (2023).
• ‘Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the neurodiversity paradigm, autistic empowerment, and postnormal possibilities’, Walker, N. Autonomous Press (2021)
• ‘The impact of art therapy with an autistic person with learning disabilities: assessing the development of communication abilities and emotional regulation‘ Wright, A.C.  International Journal of Art Therapy (2023)