Congratulations! You're normal.

I hope after reading you'll understand my motivations for sharing. I'd like you to answer the following and just keep the answers to yourself:

Do you walk like a normal person?

Do you think like a normal person?

Do you eat like a normal person?

Do you laugh like a normal person?

Do you learn like a normal person?

Do you react to news like a normal person?

Do you socialise like a normal person?

Do you act like a normal person??

This was not a test, however, let me share something. The other day my son ( who was diagnosed with Autism at a young age) was watching a debate about ASD on the BBC with Paddy McGuiness who has 3 autistic kids and some of the words being used in the chat included disabled, neurodiverse, neurotypical and normal.

He then asked me and his mum in his own way the following - "If most people are Neurotypical and I'm neuroDiverse and labelled disabled... am I disabled because I'm Autistic?"

Look, I know as parents we get asked difficult questions at times but this made the one about the birds and the bees seem like a doddle!

We answered with the following in the hope it was right: "son, the good news is you can relax because you are normal. Being neurodiverse or neurotypical doesn't mean you're not normal... you have 10 fingers and toes and you can do normal things just like anyone else. The only difference, if there is any is you might think a little differently... but guess what, that's okay, cos your mam and dad think differently too... so don't worry... and NO, you are not Disabled."

I'm not 100% sure if I answered that correctly btw... oh, and don't just think that sentence nailed it... there was a need to elaborate. But, after a good debate, we found a solution and all parties came away happy...

However, it did get me thinking, what is normal and why is it still so damn important to be so?

It boils my barnacles (did I just write that!) how we're engineered to learn in a certain way. Our marketing campaigns and education tactics advertise and tell us how we should and should not think and yet so many of us don't conform, struggle nor want to align to this ideology.

Surely we're better than this?

And so to support my son's question and for others who might feel the same, I think it's time we dropped the word normal from our sub-conscience vocabulary and change it to diverse. And, more importantly, it's time we recognised the new normal should include EVERYONE and not just those suited to regimental, same old same old conformity!

The benefits and ROI of an inclusive and diverse workplace are evident too. I'm going to copy and paste the next paragraph from this?HBR Article ?on "Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter":

"enriching your employee pool with representatives of different genders, races, and nationalities is key for boosting your company’s joint intellectual potential. Creating a more diverse workplace will help to keep your team members’ biases in check and make them question their assumptions. At the same time, we need to make sure the organization has inclusive practices so that everyone feels they can be heard. All of this can make your teams smarter and, ultimately, make your organization more successful, whatever your goals."

So, let's go back to the questions at the start. I want you to answer them all but you'll notice I've changed one word:

Do you walk like a Diverse person?

Do you think like a Diverse person?

Do you eat like a Diverse person?

Do you laugh like a Diverse person?

Do you learn like a Diverse person?

Do you react to news like a Diverse person?

Do you socialise like a Diverse person?

Do you act like a Diverse person??

And again, keep the answers to yourself! ;-)