The Gift of Neurodiversity

By Dr Nola Norris

My husband’s diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome in 2005 was a life-defining experience on many levels. We had been seeing a gifted Christian psychologist over an extended period with little progress. Finally, I spoke privately with the psychologist about my confusion caused by having a faithful, Christian husband whose commitment to our family was evident, but whose persistent behaviours were counter-productive to achieving even his own articulated goals. A break-through came when the psychologist commented, “Sounds like Asperger’s.”

Afterwards, I successively: (a) decided that the psychologist had “lost the plot”; (b) thought that I should at least eliminate the possibility that had been raised; and, (c) resolved to keep an open mind as this was an unexplored avenue. The breakthrough was cemented with the decision to think through how this knowledge would change things if it proved to be true. Even the suggestion as a possibility provided a new framework from which to consider life. 

For me, the transformation in my thinking was like the Copernican Revolution, where the chaotic mapping of planets revolving around the earth was replaced with the simple, theoretical elegance of planets revolving around the sun. Chaos resolved into a relatively easy-to-understand order as my thinking and approach moved from “false” knowledge of believing my husband to be neurotypical to new “true” knowledge of his neurodiversity. 

Several months after the diagnosis, the Sydney Morning Herald published a feature on Asperger’s syndrome (as it was then called), with the dual themes of Diagnosis in Adulthood and The Benefits of Acceptance and Understanding. The feature included our family as a case study and, I believe, represented a turning point to a broader awareness of late diagnosis and the strengths of high-functioning people with autism. 

The flow-on from this public disclosure was that it became apparent that a number of families at the K-12 Christian school where I was teaching were also affected by autism or Asperger’s syndrome. Furthermore, I was asked by some teachers about the differences in the way that students with autism think and learn. It became evident that we simply did not understand the thinking and learning of students with autism and were therefore making questionable assumptions about their learning needs. There was an urgent need for teacher professional development in this area.

The problem that became apparent to me was that, for my entire teaching career, I had ascribed the learning characteristics of neurotypical children to children who may have not been typically developing. 

Further, teachers were previously taught during their training that giftedness and learning disabilities were mutually exclusive, that is, the same student could not be both gifted and learning disabled. The knowledge about gifted or high-functioning people with autism, exposed that belief as false and called into question teaching practices based on that belief. The field of twice exceptionality is the outcome in which it is acknowledged that a student can be both gifted and have learning needs, i.e., they have two areas of exceptionality.

The problem developed into a PhD study investigating the question “How do gifted adults with Asperger’s syndrome think and learn?” The resulting knowledge has paid dividends both professionally and personally. 

As a Christian married couple, we experience daily challenges of communication, different patterns of activity and sleep, and the ongoing task of working out what it means to be a godly husband or wife to a person who is neurologically diverse to yourself. We have encountered rocky places but we testify to God’s goodness. We do our best to share what we have learnt, hoping to lay down a rough roadmap for those who walk the same journey.

For parents dealing with the challenges of parenting a child on the autism spectrum, it may be instructive to consider that autism is a life-long experience and some people with autism will marry and form families. Moreover, some will be active, evangelical Christians and members of churches. I know that I’m not the only “Aspie partner” (Aspie is a term of endearment for a person diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome) who is a Christian because, over the years, I have met many and listened to their stories. 

Afterword

Some Aspie partners relate that they only realised the autistic traits of their partner after the diagnosis of a child. In Sydney, there is a support group for the life partners of people on the autism spectrum. If you are interested, the group is ASPIA, (Asperger Syndrome Partner Information Australia) www.aspia.org.au.

A helpful resource to explore this topic further is Daniel Bowman’s book, “On the Spectrum: Autism, Faith, and the Gifts of Neurodiversity.” For a deeper dive into autism and theology see Grant Macaskill’s book, “Autism and the church: Bible, theology, and community.”

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.