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The concept of neurodiversity as it is understood today did not exist prior to the 1990s. However, there were discussions and debates about differences in brain function and human cognition dating back several centuries.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, for example, there were debates about the nature of intellectual disability and the classification of different forms of cognitive difference. In the mid-20th century, the field of psychology and psychiatry was dominated by the medical model of mental illness, which viewed differences in brain function as pathological conditions that needed to be treated or cured.
However, there were also alternative views of cognitive difference that emphasized social and environmental factors, rather than solely biological ones. For example, in the 1960s and 1970s, the field of special education became more focused on individualized approaches to support students with disabilities, rather than solely on treatments to cure or eliminate their differences.
In this context, the roots of the neurodiversity movement can be traced back to these earlier debates and discussions about the nature of brain function and human cognition, and the movement represents a continuation of these conversations in a new form.
