Neuroadvantage: The Strengths-based Approach to Neurodivergence by Andrew Fuller

Introduction

Imagine that you were given a job to retrofit the human species for survival. How would you do it? What sorts of people would you need? 

You might look around at most people gossiping and carrying on their daily tasks and think to yourself, ‘Well, if it’s just left up to them, I’m not sure survival is a sure thing.’

So, what types of people do you think the human race might need? Firstly, you could decide we need people who are good at creating systems and patterns that most people miss. We can’t all spend our days just chatting and socialising.

Secondly, you might reflect that it could be helpful to have some fastmoving people who have heaps of energy, can focus on a million things at once and like excitement and fun.

Thirdly, you could consider it would be handy to have some people who are loyal, have a strong sense of justice and are prepared to stand up for what they believe in when challenged.

Then you might add in some people who can serve as an early-warning signal to the rest of us.

What today are often incorrectly labelled as ‘deficits’ are in fact variations of humanity that helped your ancestors and their tribes survive. Without the help of these neurodivergent people, none of us would be here.

These so-called ‘disorders’ and ‘deficits’ have never, in all of human history, been deemed so disadvantageous as to have been selected against or bred out. This will lead a wise reader like yourself to ask, ‘Why not?’ The answer outlined in this book is that these neurodiversities all have neuroadvantages. These are variations that should be valued rather than pathologised. They have conferred on humanity an advantage that enabled
us to survive.

This is not a history book. It is a practical guide for parents and teachers who wish to discover and utilise the strengths of neurodivergent kids – to recognise and nurture the neuroadvantages of neurodiversity.

This book represents wisdom and ideas gathered not only from research but also from working with thousands of neurodiverse young people and their families. Some of them came into the clinic dragging with them a series of diagnostic categories that consumed most of the alphabet. Sometimes those diagnoses were helpful but sometimes they obscured the person the label was trying to describe. Invariably, the diagnoses did not mention the person’s strengths, passions, positive attributes or human capacities. They provided a picture of troubles and deficits rather than capabilities and strengths.

Neurodivergent kids are rarely balanced

Kids are good at learning. In fact, they are faster learners than most adults. However, they often attend schools where it is implied they should try to be good at everything. This can lead some of them to conclude, ‘If I am not good at everything, then I am good at nothing.’

The task facing parents and the purpose of this book is to help kids discover and value how they learn best.

Most neurodivergent kids are not all-rounders with an even spread of skills across every area. Most have some areas where they are highly competent and other areas where they really struggle. Some can eloquently express their thoughts in pictures but can hardly assemble two coherent words to describe an idea. Some will be seriously underestimated in schools that often value the fastest answer over a more hesitant but more thoughtful one. Others can talk to you in great detail and with wonderful connection but will run a mile from reading even a short paragraph.

We see this unevenness of skills because the information-processing pathways in neurodivergent brains differ. One cause of this is ‘myelination’. Myelin sheathing wraps itself around different networks or circuits in the brain and speeds up thinking. About 60 per cent of the neurodivergent brain is myelinated, which of course means about 40 per cent is not. 

This explains why neurodivergent kids are good at some things other people find difficult and are able to do some things other people find tricky.

The main pathways of learning strengths are shown below.

My Learning Strengths

Rather than lumping a child together with others into a diagnostic group, this approach involves going on a treasure hunt to find each child’s unique combination of skills, abilities and learning strengths and then working out how to use that knowledge to increase their success, confidence and happiness. Unless some of these hidden learning strengths are recognised and activated, the child may never get a chance to build success and resilience.

It doesn’t matter what age a neurodivergent person is; it is never too late to strengthen the mind.

Diagnoses can be helpful for funding and some support. They can promote self-understanding but they are often limited. Most diagnostic labels focus on kids’ limitations – what they can’t do – and not as much on how to help them succeed. As a result, they often don’t give parents (or teachers) ways to really improve outcomes for neurodivergent kids.

This approach builds on what is already strong for the child and uses that to amplify areas of learning strengths and broaden them to other areas. We start with what is strong rather than what is ‘wrong’. This empowers parents to create a conversation with their child about building on their learning strengths.

This book contains many ideas that have worked to help thousands of neurodivergent kids. To get the best out of it, you will need to assess your child’s learning strengths. It will take about ten minutes. To do this go to www.mylearningstrengths.com and complete the analysis. 

You can either do this with your child or on their behalf.

A free letter will then be emailed to you outlining the top two learning strengths. A full report outlining all of the child’s learning strengths, strategies to help their learning, and careers that utilise those strengths is also available for a small fee.

Occasionally, a child may disagree with the summary of their learning strengths. In these cases, either repeat the analysis with them or ask them what they believe to be their strongest areas.

Discuss the results with your child’s teacher(s).

This approach helps parents, teachers and young people understand the advantages of neurodivergent brains and how to leverage and capitalise on those advantages so that we can maximise the chances for success. The analysis of learning strengths is intended as the start of a journey rather than determining the only way someone can learn.

I love working with these kids and their families. While coming up with good solutions and ways to help them access their strengths requires thinking and patience, some of the most flabbergasting, gobsmacking original ideas I have ever heard come out of the brains and mouths of our neurodivergent kids. Thank you!

How this book is structured

In Part 1, I start by talking about the big issue of helping parents function well and thrive while raising neurodivergent kids. Then I turn to an issue that afflicts every neurodivergent kid: anxiety.

Each of the following chapters then outlines a different type of neurodivergence. In each of these chapters, I:

• Identify the gifts inherent in the particular area of neurodivergence and how they can set children up for success
• Provide a brief overview of how the brains of these children differ from how other brains process learning
• Outline how parents can help 
• Identify the strengths of kids with this type of neurodivergence 
• Discuss the gizmos, tech and methods that help each child (I consider how the brain learns, including how it accesses, processes and retrieves information, then consider the tools available to enhance strengths and overcome barriers.)
• Summarise the parenting strategies that have a big impact, quick fixes and anything that is a waste of time.

In Part 2, I turn to the executive functions – planning, concentration, memory, impulse control, cognitive flexibility and emotional regulation – and how to develop these in children.

 

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Buy Andrew Fuller's book, Neuroadvantage here.