Neurodivergent

Discrimination

Presented by:

Andreia Francisco, nº 2, Beatriz Silva, nº 3

Filipa Teixeira, nº 7, Julia Chagas, nº 13

Laura Lopes, nº 15, Matilde Coelho. Nº 21

 Introduction
This project, leaded by the teacher Ana Santos in the subject of English and executed by the
students of 11ºH Andreia, Beatriz, Filipa, Laura, Julia and Matilde, has the general intention of
show and explain some kinds of discrimination. The theme “Discrimination against neurodivergent
people” was chosen by us, the group integrants. In this work we will talk about themes such as :
What is neurodiversity, who is neurodivergent, how someone neurodivergent suffers form
discrimination and how that affects them. This work is made to be presented in a lecture, that will
occur in March 13rd.
 What is neurodivergent?
Neurodivergent is a nonmedical term to describe people with a atypical neurological system or
different neurological processes. This means that the brain works differently of what is expected
and has different effects and reactions to the outside world. This implies different abilities,
strengths, struggles and challenges from a person who’s brain function normally. The possible
differences include medical disorders, learning disabilities and other conditions.
Their strengths can include better memory, being able to mentally picture three dimension objects
easily, the abilities to solve complex mathematical calculations and many more.
As said before, “neurodivergent” is not a medical term, is just a way call those people using other
than “normal” and “abnormal”. Those who are not neurodivergent are neurotypical, meaning that
their challenges and strengths are not affecting the way their brain works.
The term “neurodivergent” came from the word “neurodiversity” which was used for the first
time by Judy Singer, a Australian sociologist in 1998 to recognize everybody who’s brain works
somehow different.
As an example of this in everyday life would be comparing the following two people with special
talent for drawing:
- Person #1: A 12-year-old child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who struggles in social
situations. The child’s main ASD-related issues are social problems, unusually high interest in
drawing and being strictly dependent on a daily routine. The child is naturally better at drawing
without taking classes or accumulating experience.

- Person #2: A 40-year-old neurotypical adult. The adult learned to draw at the age of 17, and their
talent took hard work and time to develop. They’re very social and make friends easily.

No one would consider the adult abnormal or defective because they can’t paint as well as the
child. Likewise, autism spectrum disorder is a condition that can take many different forms, many
of which happen in people who don’t have ASD.

Describing the child as neurodivergent acknowledges that they’re “differently abled.”

Neurodiversity means it’s natural for both the adult and the child to develop differently and have
their own abilities and struggles.
 Who is neurodivergent?
 ADHD
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that affects peoples behaviour.
Normally is noticed in a early age but also can happen that is just diagnosed in a adult age. The
symptoms are more noticeable, such as:

- Daydreaming

- Forget or lose things a lot

- Squirm or fidget

- Talk to much

- Make careless mistakes

- Take unnecessary risks

- Have a hard time resisting temptation

- Have trouble taking turns

- Have difficulties getting along with others

Also, exists three types of ADHD:
Inattentive:

 Doesn’t pay close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in school or job tasks.

 Has problems staying focused on tasks or activities, such as during lectures, conversations
or long reading.

 Does not seem to listen when spoken to (i.e., seems to be elsewhere).

 Does not follow through on instructions and doesn’t complete schoolwork, chores or job
duties (may start tasks but quickly loses focus).

 Has problems organizing tasks and work (for instance, does not manage time well; has
messy, disorganized work; misses deadlines).

 Avoids or dislikes tasks that require sustained mental effort, such as preparing reports and
completing forms.

 Often loses things needed for tasks or daily life, such as school papers, books, keys, wallet,
cell phone and eyeglasses.

 Is easily distracted.

 Forgets daily tasks, such as doing chores and running errands. Older teens and adults may
forget to return phone calls, pay bills and keep appointments.
Hyperative or impulsive:

 Fidgets with or taps hands or feet, or squirms in seat.

 Not able to stay seated (in classroom, workplace).

 Runs about or climbs where it is inappropriate.

 Unable to play or do leisure activities quietly.

 Always “on the go,” as if driven by a motor.

 Talks too much.

 Blurts out an answer before a question has been finished (for instance may finish people’s
sentences, can’t wait to speak in conversations).

 Has difficulty waiting for his or her turn, such as while waiting in line.

 Interrupts or intrudes on others (for instance, cuts into conversations, games or activities,
or starts using other people’s things without permission). Older teens and adults may take
over what others are doing.

Combined type

 Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal emotion that people experience in everyday life and is usually characterized by
feelings of tension, worry and anxiety, accompanied by physical changes such as increased blood
pressure and heart rate, sweating, dry mouth, tremors and dizziness.

 There are different types of anxiety, namely phobias, panic attacks, generalized anxiety
disorder, post-traumatic stress and among others.

All have in common a feeling of intense anxiety, which lasts for several months. What are the
symptoms?

There can be different types of symptoms.

 Psychological: feeling of intense fear and apprehension, persistent worries, difficulty of

falling asleep, irritability (easy tendency for the individual to get angry) and etc

 Physical: muscle tension, tremors, faster breathing, dizziness and tingling, increase in heart
beats per minute, profuse perspiration and dry mouth.

 Behavioral: avoidance of threats associated with danger, due to intense anxiety

when approaching them or even thinking about them for example: thinking about traveling
by plane makes the individual very anxious; if it is a phobia of heights, do not approach
buildings elevated or pass over bridges.

 Borderline
What BPD stands for?

Simplifying, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental health disorder that impacts the way
you think and feel about yourself and others. It causes problems functioning in everyday life,
including self-image issues, difficulty managing emotions and own behavior and really unstable
relationships. Can be trauma response or genetic.

People with this disorder is highly sensitive fisically and emotionally. Their brain works differently
so the quimical reactions to events are different as well. Their emotions shift very quickly, are
more intense than a normal healthy person and sometimes it is uncontrollable. Other disorders,
such as depression or anxiety, can arise as a result.

There's a huge fear of abandonment or being lonely that the person cannot explain. The empty
feeling frequently provokes intense explosive anger, suicidal thoughts, very impulsive decision and
self-harm like cutting, unsafe sex, using drugs, driving dangerously. Generally masochists, they put
themselves in situations of dependence or self- destruction, suffer from daily paranoia and, when
stressed, can have the sensation of being "outside" their body - derealization, reported in other
disorders too.

Relationships and boundaries are the worst things to deal with. As mentioned before, an individual
who has BPD has a lot of distrust, even with close relatives, partners or long-time friends. A small
little thing (like not answering a message exactly how they want it, traveling to another city for a
bit, canceling plans) can create a big crisis of madness and insanity. Here insecurities are
aggravated. Someone in this circumstance cannot see or define their looks and, especially,
personality. They often consider themselves as horrible monsters because their only memories are
negative or confused/distorted experiences.

However this people are still humans, they feel love, passion, happiness too, just in a different
way. In the past, many professionals found it hard to treat BPD, but nowadays, in a long-term, it's
possible and worth it. With the right treatments, medication and support, they can have good
friendships, a healthy mind and life. Borderlines in healed state are often described as "normal,
outgoing, fun-loving, meticulous, shy". Healing is not easy and not linear as you can think, it
requires effort, consistency and may be uncomfortable at the first. The changing lifelong habits
task can take years to do.

 Bipolar disorder
What does BP stand for?

Basically, Bipolar Disorder (BP) is characterised by extreme mood swings: the episodes can range
from mania to depression and they often last for several or longer (two weeks).

BP is usually misunderstood. In general, people mistake BP's definition with Borderline Personality
Disorder, which fuels misinformation and ruins the ability to help someone in crisis.

Since the periods are completly different, the feelings, emotions, actions, thoughts and impulses
are relative:

During the extreme low the individual may experience sadness, anger, emptiness, worthlessness,
guilt, despair, self-doubt, pessimism, being delusional, having hallucinations and illogical thinking;
lacking energy; loss of interest in everyday activities; lack of appetite; difficulty sleeping and
waking up early, difficulty concentrating or remembering events, suicidal thoughts.
During the extreme high the individual may experience the feeling super happy and overjoyed;
talking very quickly and being full of energy; creating great ideas and important plans; being easily
irritated, agitated and distracted; having hallucinations or illogical thinking; not feeling like
sleeping; doing things that often have disastrous consequences (like spending large sums of
money) and making harmful risky decisions.

People with BP usually have depressions more regularly than manias, or vice versa, Between
episodes, they can have "normal" mood periods of time, but that's not a pattern: in a mixed state,
the person feels symptoms of both extremes, for example, overactivity with a depressed mood;
and in a rapid cycling, the person repeatedly swings from high to low very quickly. In this disorder,
it's all about extremes. It's one of the hardest conditions we can deal with. Just like BPD, it disturbs
a lot your everyday life: they usually don't have many friends or get support by family;
relationships become strained; it's really difficult to stay in a job, sometimes you make it all done
and more, sometimes you can't even get out of your bed, so they are usually financially depended;
they have many strange sensations, such as seeing, hearing or smelling things that are not there;
the risk of suicide ou psychotic episodes (psychosis) increases if the individual deals leads with too
much stress.

It's very important to have empathy with a neurodivergent person. Unfortunatelly, the world feels
so comfortable at judging and criticizing but never to help. The day-to-day of a mental ill is already
full of complications and they still have to endure painful situations:

- Getting called of crazy, psycho, dramatic, exaggerated, extremely sensitive (devaluing the victim's
emotions), lazy, irrelevant, weird, irresponsible, maniac, lunatic, toxic, dependend, stalker,
annoying, etc, for a disorder they don't control;

- Losing opportunities of jobs, achieving their dreams due their bad reputation. A lot of work
places do not accept them due their mental condition;

- Difficulty in reaching the right person to vent, since the majority considers the disease as "lack of
contact with God", "lack of punishment at home", "just a phase", "drama" or is so
incomprehensible that deny help.

- Negligence (in general) by family, school, colleagues that never check on the person, never give
attention or affection and don't even bother to know how to support; Sometimes they make it
worse not caring about their actions and words.

- Medical negligence, which for years has confused BPD with Bipolar disorder, or simply doens't
assume the existence of this disorder, identifying it as "adolescent hormones".

- Even if BD is more known in society and more explored by psychology, it doesn't mean they are
more accepted or less judged.

It's crucial to emphasize that we cannot affirm we are mentally ill without a prior diagnosis by a
professional in the area. Although we can easily identify with some of the symptoms/signs, it does
not mean we have a problem, since it's normal an hard time.

 Depression
What is Depression?
Depression is an affective disorder characterized by: sadness, commitment of motivation, anxiety,
fatigue, sleep changes, easy irritability, intellectual difficulties, less interest in things namely for
family, work and social involvement

Is depression considered a disease?

Yes, depression is a disease.

Present in the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization and
nowadays unfortunately it's called «disease of the century».

The symptoms of depression

To be considered a disturbance and not a normal reaction, these symptoms must persist for at
least two weeks and usually be accompanied by:

● sadness

● changes in appetite and sleep patterns

● fatigue

● concentration difficulties

● difficulty making decisions

● loss of attachment for life, thoughts of death, or suicidal thoughts

Depression can manifest itself in many ways.

Signs can be physical, emotional and behavioral, and they can appear “masked”.

With the discrimination and the other people saying phrases like

«you just want attention»

«it's all of your head»

«stop being dramatic»

depressed people just keep getting invalidated over and over again, and not receiving the help
they need.

There are many types of depression and many causes like for example a disturbing childhood,
anxiety, a death of a loved one, even genetically because depression is a hereditary disease, it may
occur more frequently in people who have a family history of depression.

Depression doesn't really have a cure but rather a treatment that can lead to it. Namely therapy
and antidepressants.

 Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves.
People with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality. Schizophrenia not also
affect the person who has it but also the people around them, as a result of the symptoms that
mentall illness has. Consequently schizophrenia can make it difficult to participate in usual,
everyday activities, but effective treatments are available, many people who receive treatment
can engage in school or work, achieve independence, and enjoy personal relationships.

People with schizophrenia usually are not agressive but the delusions of persecution and the use
of drugs can increase it. When this occurs usually affects family.

People with schizophrenia are usually diagnosed between the ages of 16 and 30, after the first
episode of psychosis.

Starting treatment as soon as possible following the first episode of psychosis is an important step
toward recovery. Schizophrenia symptoms can differ from person to person, but they generally fall
into three main categories: psychotic, negative, and cognitive.

Symptoms of schizophrenia:

Psychotic symptoms - include changes in the way a person thinks, acts, and experiences the world.
People with psychotic symptoms may lose a shared sense of reality with others and experience the
world in a distorted way:

-Hallucinations -When a person sees, hears, smells, tastes, or feels things that are not actually
there

-Delusions- When a person has strong beliefs that are not true and may seem irrational to others.

-Thought disorder- When a person has ways of thinking that are unusual or illogical

-Movement disorder- When a person exhibits abnormal body movements. People with movement
disorder may repeat certain motions over and over.

 Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a neuro developmental disorder that affects basic reading and language skills. It is
considered a specific learning disorder because its symptoms usually affect the academic
performance of students, without any other alteration (neurological, sensory or motor) that
justifies the difficulties observed.

The word "dyslexia" is commonly used to refer to specific learning disorder with impairments in
reading and writing skills. Common characteristics of dyslexia include difficulties in accurate and
fluent word recognition, decoding, and spelling.

In oral language:

• - Delay in speech development;

• - Problems to form words correctly, such as changing the order of sounds (popica instead of
popcorn) and confusing similar words (moisture / humanity);

• - Pronunciation errors, including exchanges, omissions, substitutions, additions and mixtures of

phonemes;

• - Difficulty in naming letters, numbers and colors;

• - Difficulty in alliteration and rhyme activities;

• - Difficulty in expressing yourself clearly.

In reading:

• Difficulty decoding words;

• Errors in word recognition, even the most frequent;

• Slow and incorrect oral reading. Low fluency, with inadequacies of rhythm and intonation, in
relation to the expected for age and schooling;

• Understanding impaired text as a consequence of the difficulty of decoding;

• Reduced vocabulary.

In writing:

• Spelling and spelling errors, even in the most frequent words;

• Omissions, substitutions and inversions of letters and/or syllables;

• Difficulty in textual production, with lower than expected speed for age and schooling.

 Sociopathy
Anti social disorder or sociopathy is a mental disorder in which a person consistently shows no
regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others. People with antisocial
personality disorder tend to antagonize, manipulate or treat others harshly or with callous
indifference. They show no guilt or remorse for their behavior.

Individuals with antisocial personality disorder often violate the law, becoming criminals. They
may lie, behave violently or impulsively, and have problems with drug and alcohol use. Because of
these characteristics, people with this disorder typically can't fulfill responsibilities related to
family, work or school.

Antisocial personality disorder signs and symptoms may include:

 Disregard for right and wrong

 Persistent lying or deceit to exploit others

 Being callous, cynical and disrespectful of others

 Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or personal

pleasure

 Arrogance, a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated

 Recurring problems with the law, including criminal behavior

  Repeatedly violating the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty

 Impulsiveness or failure to plan ahead

 Hostility, significant irritability, agitation, aggression or violence

 Lack of empathy for others and lack of remorse about harming others

 Unnecessary risk-taking or dangerous behavior with no regard for the safety

of self or others

 Poor or abusive relationships

 Failure to consider the negative consequences of behavior or learn from them

 Being consistently irresponsible and repeatedly failing to fulfill work or

financial obligations

Adults with antisocial personality disorder typically show symptoms of conduct disorder before
the age of 15. Signs and symptoms of conduct disorder include serious, persistent behavior
problems, such as:

 Aggression toward people and animals

 Destruction of property

 Deceitfulness

 Theft

 Serious violation of rules

Although antisocial personality disorder is considered lifelong, in some people, certain symptoms
— particularly destructive and criminal behavior — may decrease over time. But it's not clear
whether this decrease is a result of aging or an increased awareness of the consequences of
antisocial behavior.

 Psychopathy

Psychopathy is classified within antisocial personality disorders. This means that we can find traits
such as disrespect for social laws and conventions, as well as for the rights of others; the lack of
remorse or feelings of guilt and, ultimately, tendency to assume violent behavior.
As mentioned, one of the most important characteristics of a psychopath is lack of empathy.
Nevertheless, they can be charming or even seductive people. This often causes them to have
manipulative traits in relationships with others. These characteristics make them relatively stable
people on a superficial level, which makes their diagnosis so complicated. Generally speaking, we
can observe the following behaviors in people with personality disorders in the context of
psychopathy:

• Excellent speech: a psychopath can easily convince someone of whatever he wants. Great
manipulators, you might believe that your view of the world is the right one.

• Be the center of the world: often the psychopath is convinced that it is the center of the
universe. Being a very self-confident and confident person, he despises the ideas of others and
does not understand how they cannot agree with him.~

• Mitomania: the psychopath can be a pathological liar to the extent that he comes to believe his
own lie. There are situations in which he even takes a certain pride in his ability to lie and deceive
others.

• Explosive: may have exacerbated and even violent reactions to setback. Whether it's a situation
or an opinion contrary to yours.

• Unconventional: there is a need to live on the fringes of monotony. The psychopath is a good-
time man of strong emotions.

• Absence of guilt: if there is no real empathy, it is natural that there is no guilt, because the
person does not realize the evil he can inflict on the other. This characteristic can also result in a
large dose of irresponsibility.

Although these are some frequent traits, the diagnosis of psychopathy can only be made by
qualified professionals and with the use of specific evaluation techniques. Likewise, its treatment
can only be carried out by specialists.

 Narcissism

Narcissism is extreme self-involvement to the degree that it makes a person ignore the needs of
those around them. While everyone may show occasional narcissistic behaviour, true narcissists
frequently disregard others or their feelings. They also do not understand the effect that their
behaviour has on other people.
Narcissism is a trait, but it can also be a part of a larger personality disorder. Not every narcissist
has Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), as narcissism is a spectrum. People with narcissism
don’t show negative behavior right away, they can be very charming and charismatic. But people
who show it, they like to surround themselves with people who feed into their ego, building
relationships to reinforce their ideas about themselves.

There are two different types of narcissism (The two types can have common traits but come from
different childhood experiences):

-Grandiose Narcissism: People with this behavior were most likely treated as if they were superior
or above others during childhood. Those with grandiose narcissism are aggressive, dominant, and
exaggerate their importance. They are very self-confident and aren’t sensitive.

-Vulnerable Narcissism: This behavior is usually the result of childhood neglect or abuse. People
with this behavior are much more sensitive. Narcissistic behavior helps to protect them against
feelings of inadequacy. Even though they go between feeling inferior and superior to others, they
feel offended or anxious when others don’t treat them as if they’re special.

Signs of narcissism:

- Sense of Entitlement: the belief that they are superior to others and deserve special
treatment.

- Manipulative Behavior: A narcissist will at first try to please you and impress you, to
control you.

- Need for Admiration: constant need for praise or admiration.

- Lack of Empathy: the narcissist is unwilling or unable to empathize with the needs,
wants, or feelings of other people. This also makes it difficult for them to take
responsibility for their own behavior.

- Arrogance: People with narcissistic behavior already see themselves as superior to

others, so they may become rude or abusive when they don’t receive the treatment
they think they deserve. While they hold themselves superior, they may speak or
act rudely toward those that they deem are inferior.

 Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, popularly known by the acronym OCD, is a psychiatric anxiety
disorder characterized by obsessive and intrusive thoughts. The condition also causes compulsive
and repetitive behaviors, which are commonly related to cleaning and organizing.

Causes: Usually what is behind obsessive-compulsive disorder, but the main theories surrounding
the causes of OCD concern three factors: biology, genetics, and environment.

Types:

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is subdivided into two types:

 Obsessions without compulsions: OCD in which obsessive thoughts predominate, but the
person does not necessarily exhibit compulsive behaviours.

 Obsessions with visible compulsive behaviours: OCD characterized by obsessions and

rituals that are repeated frequently, in which their anxiety can only be relieved and
controlled by means of these rituals, which are repeated compulsively and come to directly
disrupt the life of the person suffering from the obsessive-compulsive disorder and of
people close to him or her.

Symptoms: The main signs and symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, consist
basically of two parts that give the disease its name: obsession and compulsion. However, it is
common to find people who develop only one type of symptom.

 Eating disorder

Eating disorders are a set of disorders that have as a common denominator an exaggerated
concern with body weight, which leads to abnormal eating behaviors, with damage to health. They
involve emotions, attitudes and excessive behavior in everything that refers to weight and food.
They are, life-threatening disorders of an emotional and physical nature.

They occur more frequently in women, accounting for 90% of cases.

There are several types of eating disorders, but the three fundamental types are anorexia ,
bulimia, and binge eating disorder.

In anorexia, there is a distortion of body image in which the patient sees themselves as overweight
even when they is already in a very advanced state of thinness. These patients refuse to eat,
exercise compulsively, and lose weight in large quantities, putting their lives at risk;
In bulimia, patients ingest large quantities of food and then eliminate the ingested calories
through laxatives, enemas, diuretics, vomiting, and physical exercise. All these behaviors are
performed in secret and there is a strong feeling of guilt and shame after the act of eating.
However, it is repeated because it allows the patients to relieve all the tension and negative
emotional load they feel when their stomachs are empty again.

In binge eating disorder, as in bulimia, there are periods of uncontrolled food intake, but in this
case the patients do not eliminate the excess calories.
 Discrimination
Even if a lot of people don’t realise, this a very common kind of discrimination, in work, family and
friends environments. Unfortunately, neurodivergent people have to suffer for something they
can’t control.

Kind of discrimination as: don’t hire someone for some condition, excluding from groups, making
assumptions and making offensive comments.

As some disorder can listen frequently things like “oh you don’t look like it”, “everyone has bit”,
“that’s normal”, “I also had things like that, that’s normal, I lived fine with that” or “that’s the
disorder of the hype now”.

People having difficulties getting a job, because people think they are not able to work, don’t want
to give advantages or don’t want to simply convive with a person with that disorder.

This kind of discrimination, is more common than a lot of people think and is so unfair for anyone
neurodivergent. Also can people lives, just because of a condition that wasn’t their choice to have.