Happy Neurodiversity Celebration Week

It’s neurodiversity celebration week and I wanted to mark it by describing just a little of what makes my brain neurodivergent. So here are some of the ways in which I experience the world that may surprise you. I have AuDHD (Autism and ADHD), global aphantasia and SDAM (Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory). Plus I’m time blind as a bat. Basically I have zero mental imagery, I can’t conjure sound, touch, taste or smell in my mind's eye. Add to that my very bad memory, SDAM and my time blindness. I pretty much live in the current moment.

So I can’t pre-live experiences and once I’ve had them I can’t re-live them after the fact. I always find it funny when people do meditation to be present in the current moment, that’s where I live. I can remember facts about past events, much of the time but there are also big missing chunks as well, whole holidays, movies I’ve seen, events etc. I get enormous joy from common everyday things because they don’t feel old to me, don’t get me wrong, I definitely can get bored with stuff, but I think I definitely get way more joy out of commonplace things than most others because I can really only experience them in real time. 

I love the fact that I'm not tainted too much by past experiences and I don't have historical trauma or PTSD either so I'm very lucky especially when you look at the rates of PTSD and CPTSD in people with just say ADHD, autism or both. I think my particular combination of divergences helps to protect me from so many of the things others suffer from, neurotypicals and divergents alike. For me the way I see the world is completely normal and honestly the idea of having images and sounds appearing in my mind's eye is terrifying and the last thing I would ever want, especially with a brain as busy as mine is. 

Learn more about neurodiversity celebration week at https://www.neurodiversityweek.com/