Do we have something to learn from Sherlock Holmes?
By Jess Prins
Recently, I have been drawn to the fictional character of Sherlock Holmes created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As a lover of the mystery genre this delight did not come as a surprise to me. Yet, the intensity of my engagement and the extent of my consumption did! I have been drawn to all the different series (watching my favourite adaptation ‘Sherlock’ with Benedict Cumberbatch more than once over a six-month period!), the movies, the books. I consumed them, and my brain delved into the world of Sherlock and his character, to all that there is to love and hate about the character of Sherlock Holmes.
I am drawn into the fascinating way his brain works. Sherlock is brilliant! His ability to put what appear to be tiny and insignificant details together to work out a problem. Yet, at the same time I am horrified by his drug use and social rudeness. As with so many protagonists, we love to hate them. We are drawn into them and even the things that we find difficult about them, make us care for them even more.
Over time, I came to wonder if my fascination with the character of Sherlock Holmes had something to do with the fact that I deal with neurodivergence on a daily basis. Every time I engaged with this character, there were elements of Sherlock’s character that I saw in both my children. When I saw this, it led me not to despair, but to smile. There was a light-heartedness to his social faux pas and dysregulation.
Sherlock’s dysregulation is ‘forgiven’ and ‘accepted’ by most of the likeable characters because of his brilliance; because of the journey to where it brings him. Sherlock is used by the world around him to complete a goal, despite his difference. There is a sense to which the goal would never be reached, without Sherlock being on the case. He becomes indispensable to them. This very realisation put a smile on my face. Yet it also led me to think about my neurodivergent children and all their dysregulation in a different way. [1]
‘Fixing’ Neurodivergence
These days dysregulation is rarely celebrated. It is something to be worked on and ‘fixed’. Hours of therapy seem to be spent trying to make one more ‘normal’. If this is achieved, then we can ‘make’ your child be healthy and a functioning part of society. I will just put in here, I am by no means against all the therapies my children undergo. In fact, I am sincerely thankful for them and the many skilful and hardworking therapists that we are blessed to have in our lives. But I do wonder if there is something underlying in our society about neurodiversity that Sherlock’s character pushes against?
Yes, it’s true, Sherlock Holmes is not a normal functioning part of a normal society (it is all fictional). Yet within the world that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle creates, he is valued because of his difference. In fact, you could say, that in his world, Sherlock is essential for order and justice to be maintained. If you stripped Sherlock of all his difference, then he would no longer be valuable to that society.
This caused me to think, if I stripped my child of all their difference (which unfortunately in my hours of frustration, I desire to do!) would that be better for our family and more widely speaking, the world around them? Are the therapies masking the true identity of my child in order to make them assimilate into what the culture around us says is appropriate and normal? Or is it actually just what is best and healthy for them? I have to ask myself, as a parent, am I so pressured (& tired!) to want my children to be as normal as possible, that I commit to all these strategies? Has this expectation and desire to fit into the norm influenced me so much that I am now trying to ‘change’ my children to try and fit into that as much as possible?
As I contemplated this over a couple of months, my children answered the question for me. In what seemed like a very ordinary car trip to school, after the craziness of getting them out the door with the right uniform on, lunch boxes packed, breakfast eaten, teeth and hair brushed, the daily physio done (all of these things involve a significant amount of effort!), we were breathing a sigh of relief and sitting in the car and my daughter after a long stretch of silence says; “why do we call them disabilities Mum? If I wasn’t the way I am I wouldn’t be able to do a lot of the cool stuff I can do. I don’t think I am disabled. It’s not a very good name for it.”
Difference Celebrated
In that moment, my daughter pinpointed onto something that I had been wrestling with and I think also more generally, something about our society. That difference is often perceived as something negative. Our cultural narrative often focuses on the negative elements of disability. Yet, in her mind, her difference was to be celebrated and even enjoyed;a thing that could be a blessing to those around her; just as the character of Sherlock Holmes was to the people of London (and the world!).
What a wonderful world we would live in if this were embraced! If our society asked the question, what does this person’s difference mean they can offer to the world?
Surely this is also where God draws us to as well. As Christians we hold onto the beautiful truth laid out in Genesis 1 that humanity is made in God’s image and in Psalm 139:13-14 we read:
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
He has not just made us in his image and carefully crafted us, he has also gone to extraordinary lengths in Jesus to redeem us and draw us into relationship with himself so that we can now consider ourselves children of God (Galatians 4:5-7). God deeply values humanity and has a love for us that is far beyond our understanding (Ephesians 3:17-18, 1 John 4:7-11). God delights in all our diversity and difference, and through it is the opportunity to serve him and bring him glory (1 Corinthians 12:12-25).
Yet, there does not seem to be much talk about harnessing the neurodivergence within my child for the difference and greatness that it can bring to the world or even just our churches. Maybe that’s because it is inevitable? Or maybe it’s because there is an underlying belief that difference means underachievement? Maybe it’s because it is just not perceived as possible that someone with a ‘disability’ could have something to offer the world?
Once again, I feel I need to add a caveat. Living with neurodiversity is hard. There are many, many moments throughout our day that are spent trying to grapple with dysregulation and circumstances that they cannot understand or know what to do with. It is hard! It is an ongoing and daily struggle.
Yet, the ‘disability’ allows my children to think outside of the norm which they (and I think we all) should see as something to be celebrated; not perceived negatively, or even worse, ignored. The way that Sherlock observes the world in all its details is seen as a gift. It is very rare for anyone (or myself for that matter!), to point to the differences within my child and to see them as gifts. Instead, we hear the words, ‘different’, ‘interesting’ or ‘hard’. The louder message seems to be on of ‘fixing’ or ‘change’. It is very likely that this is essentially more a fault of my own parenting than anything else. Yet, I wonder if behind all this is a fear that if we do engage with the differences and highlight them as gifts, we fear that we run the risk of eccentricating them? Or making them more different from the cultural norm (if that is even possible!)? The fear that by encouraging certain behaviours it will create more not ‘normal’ behaviours? How deep is the desire to just fit in with the norms of society!
Yet, my child’s ability to draw in information and piece it together with other bits of information to draw ideas and conclusions that are beyond my comprehension, are extraordinary (the ‘negative’ side of this is that her brain never stops. It is always needing stimulation and processing information). As they go inside their ‘mind palace’ (as Sherlock would call it, although thankfully without the drugs) the results are so often amazing, very clever and thoughtful (the ‘negative’ side of this is that they literally switch off from the world around them at any moment,no longer able to hear or engage with what is going on). My child’s ability to hyperfocus on something for a very long stretch of time results in lots of information and knowledge gathered on a certain subject (the ‘negative’ side is as above). Their amazing memories allow for lots of information to be retained and brought out at very useful moments (like a trivia night!). Their struggle to engage with children their own age results in relationships built with other adults and younger children that are quite delightful and beautiful.
It’s worth questioning, would life be fuller if it was lived in the world of Sherlock Holmes? A world that embraces and celebrates neurodiversity; a world that acknowledges the differences, sees what those differences have to offer, and then accepts and celebrates them;a world that does not try to fix and fit the person into the cultural norm, but embraces them for who they are..
Surely this is the posture that Christ calls us to. As Paul writes, ‘there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).’ The gospel invites us to embrace and enjoy diversity.
[1] I highly doubt this was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s intent with the character of Sherlock Holmes. But, an interesting thing to explore nonetheless.
Questions for prayer and reflection:
How can we make sure that we are valuing our children for who they are whilst also helping them to grow in character and skills?
Do we have to celebrate the “disability” in order to celebrate our child? Or can we lament the disability whilst also valuing our child for being a precious creation made in God’s image?
Are there aspects of your child's difference that frustrate you? Why? Is there any room for seeing some good things about this difference (sometimes there just isn't, and that's OK!)?
If you engage in different therapy for your child, how do you frame this within their growth and development? Are there areas where a Christian worldview could helpfully overarch the therapy?
Spend some time reflecting on the words of Psalm 139. Do you really believe and uphold those as truths for yourself and for your family?
In seasons of little or no celebration, what words of comfort from God's word can you lean on and pray through?
Jess Prins is a wife to an amazing husband, Marty and they have two delightful daughters and one dog, who they enjoy taking for walks along the beach whenever they can. Jess works as a ministry assistant at Summerleas Christian Church in Tasmania and in her spare time enjoys sitting in cafe’s eating cake, reading and writing, watching movies, and baking.
The views and opinions expressed on this site are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The 139 Collective. As a collective, we seek to humbly learn from each other’s experiences and remember the unity that we share in Christ even when our current viewpoints on the difficult topic of disability differ.
