Neurodiversity affirming play therapy
What is neurodiversity? It’s the idea that different variations in the brain and nervous system are natural and normal, just like diversity in gender, race, sexuality, and other human characteristics. Neurodiversity celebrates healthy neurological differences by ensuring that everyone has access to supports which allow them to live their lives as they see fit.
What is Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity is a way of viewing the world that recognizes and respects that people’s brains work differently. The term describes an approach to the understanding of neurological differences, such as those that cause autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and dyspraxia.
These differences are seen as part of normal variation in the human genome. It is currently used to describe a social movement which challenges common assumptions about what it means “to have a disability”.
Benefits of therapy
Develop a more positive self image.
Feel more comfortable being yourself.
Improve your relationships with others, including family members and/or friends.
Feel more confident
Deal with difficult feelings such as anger, loneliness, guilt and frustration in a positive way.
Build up your self esteem and help you learn about respecting others who are different from yourself.
Improve your ability to empathize with others and make friends.
Affirmative Therapy
Some of the key principles of affirmative therapy are:
rejecting pathologizing language and attitudes;
affirming and normalizing the experience of the client;
avoiding labelling and stereotyping;
respecting the client's perspective;
empowering the client.
Strengths, interests and talents
The next step in this process is to identify strengths, interests and/or talents that can be emphasized and built upon. To do this, we will first explore what is already known about the child’s strengths. As therapists, we draw on our knowledge of the child’s interests or talents and then ask how this can be used to strengthen the child’s sense of self. However, it is also important to gather information from parent(s) or carers about their perceptions of the child’s strengths, interests and talents. Some questions we may ask may include, "What does your child enjoy most? Is there anything they are particularly good at?" so that you can form a thorough understanding of the child and their areas of strength.
If you're a parent, you may have heard about "masking" in the context of your child's mental health. Masking is when people who are neurodivergent—people with conditions such as autism, OCD, or anxiety disorders—try to hide their symptoms from others.
The problem with masking is that it can be harmful to children who feel like they have to hide their struggles from the world. Masking requires an incredible amount of energy and self-control, and it can lead to negative outcomes like physical illness, worsening symptoms, and depression. It's also damaging because it doesn't teach children how to cope with their emotions or interact with others in a healthy way.
If you want your child to learn skills that will help them cope with their symptoms and manage their relationships, play therapy is a great option. Play therapy helps children learn how to express difficult emotions and understand their own behavior by using toys as props. It can be especially useful if they have trouble communicating verbally or if they are too overwhelmed by emotion to talk about how they feel.
Be yourself and be confident and proud of being you!
A few key points to remember about neurodiversity affirming play therapy and what we want all children to know:
Be yourself. You are unique and wonderful in your own way.
Be confident and proud of who you are. You have the right to be accepted for who you are, no matter what others say or think.
You are OK just the way you are -- don’t let anyone or anything change that!