Divergent mind Thriving in a world that wasn't designed for you

Jenara Nerenberg

eBook - 2020

A paradigm-shifting exploration of neurodivergent women-those with autism, ADHD, synesthesia, and other sensory processing differences-offering a timely, provocative examination of why these traits are overlooked in women and how our society can benefit from allowing their unique strengths to flourish. As a smart, successful, Harvard and Berkeley-educated writer and devoted mother, Jenara Nerenberg didn't discover her autism and ADHD until well into her adulthood, after it had already taken a huge toll on her personal and professional life. Being a journalist, she dove into the research and discovered neurodiversity-a movement which seeks to stop pathologizing 'normal' and 'abnormal' brains and start embracing the ...variety of mental makeups we all have. But we can't accept what we don't recognize, and when it comes to women, sensory processing disorders including autism, ADHD, and synesthesia are often overlooked, masked, or mistaken for something else entirely. Between a flawed system that focuses on diagnosing younger, male populations, and the fact that women are conditioned from a young age to blend in and conform to gender expectations, women often don't learn about their condition until they are adults, if at all. As a result, millions live with undiagnosed or misdiagnosed neurodivergence, and the misidentification leads to depression, anxiety, shame, and low self-esteem. Meanwhile, we all miss out on the gifts their neurodivergent minds have to offer. Divergent Mind is a long-overdue, much-needed answer for women who have a deep sense that they are "different." Sharing real stories from women with autism, ADHD, synesthesia, dyslexia, misophonia and more, Nerenberg explores how these brain variances present differently in women and dispels widely-held misconceptions (for example, it's not that autistic people lack sensitivity and feeling, they have an overwhelming excess of it). Nerenberg also offers us a path forward, taking readers through practical ways that innovative minds in healthcare, technology, and therapy are changing the way we communicate, how we design our homes and offices, and how we better support the people we care about-which has wide-ranging benefits for everyone, divergent or not. It's time to treat distress, not difference. When we let the variety of brain makeups we all have flourish, we create a better tomorrow for us all.

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Subjects
Published
[United States] : HarperCollins Publishers 2020.
Language
English
Corporate Author
hoopla digital
Main Author
Jenara Nerenberg (author)
Corporate Author
hoopla digital (-)
Online Access
Instantly available on hoopla.
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Physical Description
1 online resource
Format
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
ISBN
9780062876812
Access
AVAILABLE FOR USE ONLY BY IOWA CITY AND RESIDENTS OF THE CONTRACTING GOVERNMENTS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, HILLS, AND LONE TREE (IA).
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Review by Booklist Review

Public health expert and founder of the Neurodiversity Project, Nerenberg reframes how we think about mental differences in this empowering book of discovery and self-acceptance. For too long, women have silently coped with undiagnosed neurodivergence, including ADHD, autism, high sensitivity, and sensory processing disorder. Due to male-centric research and societal expectations placed on women and girls, entire generations of women have struggled to understand their divergent minds. Nerenberg describes her journey after learning that she had "symptoms" of ADHD and autism. Through her experience, readers learn about neurological differences that are common among women and how to embrace and embody divergence in everyday life. Nerenberg does not simply present symptoms and treatments. Rather, she depathologizes these diagnoses and emphasizes the importance of working to raise awareness and to change medical and cultural perspectives on how we view and treat those who experience the world differently. This important book not only advocates for research and innovation; it also demonstrates the power of acceptance, kindness, and the celebration of differences.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

Aimed specifically at women who feel "different," this accomplished first book from Nerenberg (founder, the Neurodiversity Project) defines and investigates HSP, or the highly sensitive person, delving into the subject of sensory overload in order to reconstruct sensitivity within the framework of neurodiversity. The author argues that women with neurological conditions have been widely overlooked, misdiagnosed, and undertreated, as studies of autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and sensory processing disorder have been predominantly conducted with male participants. In accessible, incisively written chapters, Nerenberg explores the HSP personality and draws on its positive traits both at home and at work, welcoming women with these differences to a community they never knew existed, while designating a roadmap for designing one's life in ways that support and enhance the strengths of the "divergent" mind. VERDICT An extraordinary, jaw-dropping take on a topic with which many women will identify. Of special interest to those in the human resources, counseling, and education fields.--Virginia Johnson, John Curtis P.L., Hanover, MA

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