Brains are as diverse as bodies and we’re not really talking - or reading - about it. There are so many books, blogs, and articles on changing behaviors and habits through hard work and perseverance, but why aren’t we more focused on setting everyone up for successful behaviors and habits from the beginning? Maybe it’s the radio silence we’ve been met with since childhood leaving our unique brains ill-prepared for the world as we perceive it to be. It’s time to increase conversations about neuro-divergent representation. 

Neurodiversity as a term was coined in the 1990s by Judy Singer, a sociologist on the autism spectrum, who rejected that individuals with autism are disabled. The term was quickly accepted into the autism community and expanded to include other brains diagnosed with disabilities. Yet, the content we consume and the books we read to our children are only just starting to reflect neurodiversity. Today, 89% of the publishing space is non-disabled authors while individuals with disabilities comprise 26% of the American population. 

Finding books for children that feature neuro-divergent main characters who feel and think just like they do is as easy as looking for a list online now (though these lists are noticeably shorter than their neurotypical children’s books counterparts), an encouraging step in the right direction, but more representation doesn’t always mean better representation. For instance, autism is rarely paired with savant syndrome, plus attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) doesn’t always mean a loud, out-of-focus personality, and dyslexia doesn’t equal illiteracy to name a few. 

Own-voice writers are imperative to getting the narrative right, but not all authors who write neuro-divergent main characters have the disability - or any disability - they’re writing about. Doing research and talking to neuro-divergent individuals can take a writer a long way toward a better representation of the character they are trying to write, but it’s important to ask for whom, exactly, is the book being written at that point? 

Writing books about neuro-divergent characters is only the first hurdle to jump. Neurotypical authors write neuro-divergent characters, many times, with exaggerations and liberties taken from real people like in Rain Man, or write to explain the behaviors of neurodiversity to other neurotypical people. In a lot of cases, neurodivergent characters are written as burdens or obstacles for the main character to navigate. You don’t have to look very far to see the discrepancy between books written for neuro-divergent individuals and books written about neuro-divergent individuals. The two are very different, right down to structure. 

Take fonts and colors to start. It’s easier for neuro-diverse audiences to read san-serif fonts like Helvetica or Arial than serif fonts like Times New Roman since the letters are less intertwined. Many neuro-diverse individuals also have a difficult time when a lot of yellow is used on a page, preferring pastels and neutral colors, especially calming blues and greens, instead. Pick up any book written for children under the age of 13 and at least one of these two preferences is overlooked - and it’s not intentional. It’s the result of a lack of understanding.

Stories are incredibly important to the developing neuro-divergent brain. For many who are struggling to identify their place in society as they grow and learn, books are a source to teach critical language and listening skills and can even help build emotional connections and social skills.

Accurate representation matters, whether visible or not, in order to inform, adjust, and move forward in a manner that benefits us all, and it’s easier to start that training and learning in youth so the world our children see will be one they know how to navigate with their own unique, beautiful, neurodivergent brains.

Header Image illustrated by Tara Yazdani