Scar Gazing: Our Blemishes Make Up Our Contribution to World Wide Diversity
I have an occasional stutter that accompanies my ADHD. One time I asked Alexa to play “Stargazing Playlist” but instead I said, “Alexa play Sc-Sc-Sc-Sc-Scar gazing playlist.” Alexa responded by telling me she couldn’t find the “Sc-Sc-Sc-Sc-Scargazing playist.” It felt like she was mocking me. My daughter used to mock my stutter too, laughing out loud and repeating my stutter back to me. I educated her that this was a type of disability and she can’t laugh at people for these sort of differences. Over time she learned to stay quiet when I stuttered.
This is the fundamentals of neurodiversity, differences do not have to be stigmatized. Like my writing on the gifts of ADHD, the very same gifts of ADHD are among the 5 traits LinkedIn identifies as the top skills missing in the work force,:
Critical thinking or problem-solving
Adaptability and flexibility
Communication
Leadership
Innovation and creativity
Many with ADHD have a hard time thinking in the box because they don’t want to follow rules, they want to create their own structure — a sign of leadership and innovation. The best students are the best studiers, they can get the right answers found at the back of the book. The dangerous loss of perspective on getting into the “right school” based on perfect GPA’s and near perfect SAT scores has led schools and students to neglect the development of these skills currently identified as missing in the workplace.
While I never meant to say Scar Gazing, it’s a nice metaphor for neurodiversity. We gaze at those places where other people see blemish and gaze with appreciation at the things that make us who we are, make us different, make up our contribution to worldwide diversity.
Free Video on Six Super Skills to go from Goal Setting to Goal Getting
Dr. Lara Honos-Webb is a is a clinical psychologist and author of Brain Hacks, The Gift of ADHD, The Gift of ADHD Activity Book, The Gift of Adult ADD, The ADHD Workbook for Teens and Listening to Depression: How Understanding Your Pain Can Heal Your Life.
