Neurofluidity: Playing With a Concept

For people who don’t identify with neurotypicality or neurodivergence, what do we do? In keeping with today’s day and age, noodle a new category.

Key points

• Despite being fictional, the concept of “neurofluidity” can be useful for self-identification.
• Neurofluid could describe those who don’t fit into the categories of neurotypical or neurodiverse.
• Neurofluid individuals might excel in both divergent and convergent thinking, as situations demand.
• Anecdotally, a number of people have resonated with this concept, often but not always psychotherapists.

Neurofluid is a word I thought of a couple of years ago while exploring the tension between “neurotypical” and “neurodivergent” categories. It’s been used in other contexts, both to refer to autistic spectrum and related experiences, as well as a term which describes a process underlying neuroplasticity, in the sense of brain development and change. Due to space, respectfully I can’t do justice to the rich literature on personality and mind, identity and politics, which are relevant for allyship.

Reflecting on my history of moving among different social groups-starting in junior…