[Editor’s Note: This anthology was published by Girl God Books (2022).]
“Nourishing Giftedness: Neurodiversity and Niche Construction” by Stephanie Mines, Ph.D.
WHAT IS Niche Construction?
Niche construction is a concept derived from biology in which an organism makes adjustments to its own environment. It is a feedback response system because not only does the organism change but the environment also changes as a product of relational interaction. A clear example is when beavers change their environments by constructing dams or when earthworms change the soil they inhabit. In both cases the result is co-evolutionary. Proximal environmental modifications often spread out further, creating whole system shifts.
If we apply this paradigm to sensory integration and human development, we see that when we create a contained environment of advocacy and individuated attunement the ramifications permeate into the home and family environment alongside the school and therapy environments. The examples in this compilation revolve around constructing a niche or arena in which a child has at close hand and ready access the supportive resources needed to become whole and integrated as he or she is. These resources are tailored to what the individual child needs to express herself optimally without the frustrations of burdensome sensory overload.
How to Nourish Giftedness in Sensory Challenged Youth
“My ideas come in streams and my only difficulty
is to hold them fast.”
~Nikola Tesla
Storms of imagination and inspiration, acute sensitivity to all sensory input, driving over-focus and inwardness are all common traits for people with sensory integration imbalances. Some of the most brilliant contributors to human culture and evolution have exhibited aspects of these characteristics. By investigating their lives, we can learn about parenting sensory needs children. In this chapter I convene a conference of models and mentors from biographies that become a cornucopia of limbic nourishment. This gathering identifies the key ingredients for nourishing giftedness in sensory challenged, autistic, and neurodiverse young people.
The dominant characteristics we can identify for sensory abundant children include:
-Heightened powers of observation;
-Acute sensitivity to stimuli;
-Receptivity to images and visual thinking;
-A compelling, complex, unique and rich inner world;
-Unique insight;
-Creative and out-of-the box problem solving ideas;
-Profound determination, sometimes seen as stubbornness;
-Development that is out-of-sync;
-Inwardness; and
-Over-focus on certain chosen subjects, interests and/or activities.
The three key gifts that adults can cultivate, alongside their love for the specialness of their unique child, to nourish giftedness in the children who have these traits are:
- Differentiating themselves from the children they care for by retracting projection;
- Advocating for the learning styles that are developmentally appropriate and encouraging for each child; and
- Finding the therapies and therapists that meet the child where he is for optimum enhancement, growth, and development. See the Resource Annex chapter for samples of how to find these options.
I explore these ten characteristics and the three key gifts of the adults who serve them through the lives of people who have struggled with sensory integration and made their contributions, nevertheless. Their self-reported life experiences allow us to see what works and what doesn’t work to enhance and stabilize the rare brilliance of our sensory needs children and youth.
The Recipe for Supporting Differentiation:
Theory of Mind + Empathy
Adults have a lot to learn from the lives of sensory-challenged children and youth. One of the characteristics of sensory abundance is heightened self-awareness. I have frequently been astounded by how my sensory-challenged and autistic patients reveal incredible insight into themselves and others. What they lack is perspective. Because adults have the cognitive capacity to find perspective and to reflect on their own development, they can create a theory of mind if they cultivate profound self-awareness.
Once adults create a theory of mind for themselves then it is possible for them to cultivate a theory of mind for the children in their care.
Theory of mind, differentiation and empathy are like the Three Muses for those who serve children with sensory overload. Theory of mind means that you have a developmental perspective and can temper your language, presence, educational and therapeutic interventions to meet that perspective for each child. You can, for instance, understand an autistic child in the context not only of their neurology but also their home life and the parenting they receive.
When I was conducting my recent clinical trials, I encountered many autistic children whose parents were veterans of combat. The relationship between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), autism and the neurochemistry of fear has yet to be fully explored but it was evident in the lives of these children. The Autism National Committee notes that despite fairly abundant anecdotal evidence, knowledge of the nature, prevalence, and treatment of
psychological trauma in the lives of neurodiverse people is lacking. (Autism National Committee 2007) For these autistic sons and daughters of veterans the presence of PTSD in their home environment was a significant component in the theory of mind I cultivated for them.
Differentiation requires self-awareness and self-understanding. Adults need to bear witness to how they respond to children. If, for instance, you are threatened by the way in which your child stands out or does not fit in then it is up to you to explore what that means about you. Trace this reaction to its source and take responsibility for it so that you do not project your fears, shame, need to deny, suppress, blame, or compensate onto a child. Anything that prevents you from seeing a child’s experience from their perspective requires investigation.
Copyright 2013, Originally published by the Dom Project. Shared with the permission of the author.
I ordered this as soon as it came out!
I’m waiting for my copy of this to arrive! As a woman with dyspraxia, I’m so glad neurodiversity is being talked about in Goddess circles.