Child Mind Institute Quotes

In this week's reading of our blog posts on "Child Mind Institue" an article written by Caroline Miller, is an article that disscuss the term "Nuerodiversity" in the context of a school setting. She goes into detail with emphasizing strengths in neurodiversity students and how they are facing challenges in their school settings. Here in this blog I will pick 3 quotes and explain them in this blog. 

(Quote: 1) "Some children are now diagnosing themselves with conditions that fall under the umbrella of neurodiversity, seeing a potential diagnosis as a way to validate their experiences."

This quote is pointing out how a lot of kids and teens today turn to self-diagnosis as a form of self-understanding. When you don’t fit in, struggle to focus, feel overwhelmed by noises or social situations, it can be really comforting to find a label that explains those feelings. For many young people, thinking “Maybe I’m autistic,” or “Maybe I have ADHD,” is less about chasing a trend and more about trying to validate the fact that something genuinely feels different in their daily life

(Quote: 2) "Being a strength-based therapist means that I look at the strengths of the family, and of the individual,” said Dr. Lee. “And then I think, ‘How can I take this unique individual’s strengths and use them to breathe life into an evidence-based treatment?’

This quote shows a very different approach from the usual “fix the broken parts” mindset. Instead of seeing the child or family as a bundle of problems, Dr. Lee starts by asking, “What are this person’s strengths?” Maybe a kid with ADHD is incredibly creative, has intense focus when they’re interested in something, or is great at thinking in big-picture idea

(Quote: 3) "Neurodiversity, she says, has become something many people, especially adolescents, are increasingly comfortable identifying with. For kids around middle-school age who are struggling socially, identifying as neurodiverse can be a way to make sense of what they’re going through"

This quote explains why the language of neurodiversity has become so popular, especially among middle-schoolers and teenagers. Those years are already awkward, but for kids who are truly struggling socially missing cues, feeling overwhelmed in groups, or constantly feeling “out of sync”

Reflection/Questions/Comments To Share:

Neurodiversity to me felt like a simple concept where it just a phenomenon  where people think differently, but this article showed me that it is way more than that, and it can affect and impacted individual's lives heavily.