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GUS WALZ OPENS THE DOOR TO APPRECIATING HUMAN DIVERSITY  
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Sneha Kohli Mathur
August 30, 2024
The Conversation
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_ Gus Walz’s unbridled emotion on the DNC stage opens the door to
more understanding of neurodiversity _

"Gus: That's my Dad.'", by FolsomNatural (CC BY 2.0)

 

“That’s my dad. That’s MY DAD!” a visibly emotional Gus Walz
exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, at the Democratic National
Convention. It is rare to see this kind of wholesome love and
admiration, especially in a public setting, from a teenager toward
their parent.

For most Americans, this was their first introduction to Gus, the
neurodivergent son of Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice
presidential nominee Tim Walz. In a People interview
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published during the convention, Tim Walz and his wife, Gwen,
described Gus’ specific type of neurodivergence. They noted that he
has been diagnosed with nonverbal learning disorder,
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, and anxiety.

The public reactions to Gus’ display of emotion were mixed. There
were negative responses like that of conservative pundit Ann Coulter
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who posted, “Talk about weird …” in a now-deleted post on the
social platform X. Others initially mocked Gus, a male teenager, for
crying, but then apologized when they learned he was neurodivergent.

But there were also positive responses, such as that of former first
lady Michelle Obama, who posted on Instagram: “I was touched to see
Gus Walz’s joy when his dad @TimWalz
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Thankful for you showing us all what real love looks like, Gus.”
Some of the positive response came from other families with
neurodivergent members
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who saw themselves represented in that moment.

As a researcher [[link removed]]
of applied behavior analysis and disability studies, I see this moment
as an opportunity, particularly for people whose brain functions,
behaviors and processing are considered “standard” or
“typical”
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of society to learn how to better understand and support
neurodiversity.

The breadth of neurodiversity

Neurodiversity
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of itself is simply a biological fact. No two brains work in exactly
the same way, and there are a range of brain and behavioral
differences that lead to human variation, similar to race or sexual
orientation. Neurodivergent is a term used to describe people whose
brains differ in the way they develop and function
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Neurodiverse people may be diagnosed with any number of related
conditions such as ADHD, autism and dyslexia.

Research suggests that 15% to 20% of the U.S. population
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likely an underrepresented number. That’s potentially 1 in 5 people.

When it comes to neurodevelopmental disorders, there are many
co-occurring conditions. You can think of various diagnoses as being
on a spectrum with other diagnoses. For example, anxiety and
depression often have overlapping symptoms or can be thought of as a
spectrum of one mental health condition. Neurodevelopmental
disabilities such as nonverbal learning disorder often exist alongside
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What the DSM has to say

In order to learn more about neurodivergencies like nonverbal learning
disorder, ADHD and anxiety, you might think a mental health
professional like myself would recommend turning to the Diagnostic and
Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)
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standard reference for the mental health field.

However, I don’t recommend this, for two reasons. First, nonverbal
learning disorder [[link removed]] is a broad
category that is not actually in the DSM-5. Researchers describe it as
a developmental visual-spatial disorder
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Its symptoms overlap with many other diagnoses such as autism spectrum
disorder, developmental coordination disorder, specific learning
disorders and ADHD
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Second, the standard criteria for most of these diagnoses are created
entirely by professionals who may not themselves know what the
experience is like. Traditionally, the medical and psychological
understanding
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of neurodivergence characterizes these differences as deficits that
must be treated or cured.

Maybe Gus experienced some of these symptoms at the DNC, maybe not.
This type of response from society, in which a difference is
characterized as a deficit, has led to societal oppression by forcing
the neurodivergent person
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behaviors to align with neurotypical behaviors.

This attitude that any difference from the perceived societal norm
should be shamed or mocked persists in our society to this day, as
evidenced by posts on X like Coulter’s. Unfortunately, those views
have become deep-seated in society due to the medical model of
disability
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which suggests that neurodivergent people should learn how to “fit
in” rather than the rest of society creating more inclusive
communities.

Shifting the paradigm

While the DSM can provide information about the symptoms of
neurodivergence, I believe it’s important to go beyond this sort of
textbook information, which treats neurodivergence as a deficit, and
learn from the lived experiences of neurodivergent people.

Neurodivergencies, like autism or ADHD, can be better understood by
directly speaking to neurodivergent people
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therapists alike can understand their desires and support needs,
rather than projecting neurotypical norms on them.

This approach led me to co-author a book, “Understanding the Lived
Experiences of Autistic Adults
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Valerius, an autistic adult and advocate in California. My
conversations with Valerius over two years taught me more about autism
than 10 years of studying psychology, and we now often collaborate and
present at professional conferences together.

The Walz family demonstrated on a global stage that while there may be
obstacles related to neurodivergence, there are also great strengths.
Just as neurotypical people have the autonomy to choose which of their
challenges to seek support for and how to receive this support,
research shows that neurodivergent voices should be central
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and solutions best fit their needs.

This paradigm shift moves away from a medical, or deficit, model of
disability into what is called the social model of disability
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This outlook centers the voices of disabled people and understands
disability as being influenced by societal and cultural expectations.

The social model puts the responses to Gus’ show of emotion at the
DNC in a new light. It makes space to explore questions like, why was
it acceptable to make fun of a teenage boy for showing emotion, but
not acceptable once they found out that person is neurodivergent?

The medical, or deficit, model of disability suggests that people with
a disability are outside the norm and thus need to be ‘fixed’ or
‘cured,’ placing the problem on the individual rather than on
society.

Resources for learning more

In the classes I teach at the University of Southern California
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students to read one book from a list of about 50 autobiographies
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neurodivergent authors.

I also invite neurodivergent guest speakers to my classes to speak to
the students about their hopes, dreams and challenges. We study the
history of disabilities in America, their various diagnostic criteria
and how support plans are largely influenced by the societal and
cultural understandings of neurodiversity and disability during that
time period.

The mocking and shaming responses to Gus Walz’s show of emotion at
the DNC demonstrate that society still has a long way to go in both
understanding and accepting neurodivergent behaviors.

The good news is it’s now easier than ever to learn. You don’t
have to be a clinician or student to work on better understanding the
experiences of neurodivergent people. There are many blogs, YouTube
channels, social media sites and autistic autobiographies
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can learn directly from a neurodivergent person.[The Conversation]

Sneha Kohli Mathur
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Faculty Member of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts
and Sciences, _University of Southern California
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This article is republished from The Conversation
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the original article
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* neurodivergence
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* psychology
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* Science
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