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21 Signs You Might Be Neurodivergent – Neurodivergent Magic
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If TikTok is trying to diagnose you with ADHD and YouTube is showing you a few too many videos about autism, then you’ve probably wondered once or twice if you might be neurodivergent. While I obviously can’t diagnose you since I’ve never met you and I’m not a therapist, I can point out a few neurodivergent traits to help you on your journey.
Again, this list is not meant to diagnose, but rather to help you better understand the neurodivergent brain. Different forms of neurodivergence, from dyslexia to ADHD, all present differently, but there are a few traits that many of us have in common. And that’s this list.
So without further ado, here are 21 signs you might be neurodivergent:
- Time-Blindness
Many neurodivergent folks struggle to accurately perceive the way that time passes. Either we’re engrossed in something and time passes far too quickly, or we’re bored out of our minds and time seems to come to a complete stop. And estimating how long things will take? Forget it. - Executive Dysfunction
There are actually 8 executive functions: impulse control, emotional regulation, flexible thinking, working memory, self-monitoring, task initiation, planning & prioritizing, and organization. And executive dysfunction is when things go wrong in these areas. This often looks like desperately wanting to do something and simply…not being able to. If you struggle with executive dysfunction, make sure you sign up for the FREE first two modules of my online course, Executive Dysfunction: How to Cope When Your Brain Won’t Cooperate. - Task Multiplying
Have you ever tried to do something seemingly simple, and all of the sudden, you find yourself doing 9 million other things? Like, let’s say you try to do the dishes, but to do that, you have to clear off the counter, and while you’re doing that, you see some bills that need paid, so you go to do that, but first you need to buy stamps, so now you’re at the post office, and nowhere near getting those dishes done. This can happen to anyone, but it happens to neurodivergent folks a lot. - Inconsistent Sleep Needs
A lot of neurodivergent folks struggle with insomnia or hypersomnia, or both at different times. Additionally, neurodivergent folks often deal with execessive fatigue due to the effort that’s required to simply exist as a neurodivergent person in a neurotypical world. - Emotional Dysregulation
Do you ever feel totally overwhelmed by your emotions, like they’re a force outside of your control? Do you get depressed, like well and truly depressed, but it only lasts for a few hours and then it goes away? You might be struggling with emotional dysregulation, which is a popular symptom of many neurodivergencies. - Special Interests & Hyperfixations
Hyperfixations are typically associated with ADHD while special interests tend to go along with autism, but the gist is, neurodivergent folks get very excited about our interests. - Missing the Obvious, But Picking Up On the Subtle
A lot of neurodivergent folks may get labeled “spacey,” “oblivious,” or “clueless” because of our tendency to miss seemingly obvious things, but what many neurotypical people don’t realize is that we miss the obvious because we’re too busy picking up on the subtle. You’d be amazed at the miniscule details many neurodivergent people pick up on. - Sensory Sensitivities
Many neurodivergent folks are either hyper- or hyposensitive to sensory experiences. This means some neurodivergent folks hear every electric device, and feel the tag on their shirt, and smell that banana peel you threw in the trash 3 days ago, while others appear almost numb to many sensory experiences. - Rejection Sensitivity
Are you hypersensitive to rejection, whether it’s real or perceived? That’s called rejection sensitivity, and because so many neurodivergent people experience rejection at school, work, and home, they become extra sensitive to it and it affects them more than neurotypical people. - Auditory Processing Disorder
Do you always pass hearing tests, but feel like in real life, you can’t hear anything? You might have something called auditory processing disorder, a condition where your ears hear just fine, but your brain has trouble making sense of the signals. It’s more common amongst neurodivergent folks than among neurotypicals. - Meltdowns & Shutdowns
Another common experience amongst neurodivergent folks are meltdowns and shutdowns. A meltdown is what happens when someone is overstimulated and simply can’t take it anymore and they end up externalizing their frustration thorugh yelling, hitting themselves, crying, etc. A shutodwn, on the other hand, is when the person is overstimulated, can’t take it anymore, and then internalizes their frustration through dissociation, internal spiraling, negative self-talk, etc. - Trouble with Eye Contact
This one is a classic sign of neurodivergence, but something a lot of people don’t know is that trouble with eye contact doesn’t just mean avoiding eye contact. It can also look like making way too much eye contact. Just generally not knowing how to handle eye contact is common amongst neurodivergent folks. - Detailed Inner World
So many neurodivergent people find that their inner world is more interesting and fulfilling than the outer, “real” world. I know for me personally, I lived inside my daydreams for years, especially when I was in school and bored with the lessons. - Narrow Range of Appropriate Stimulation
This basically means that for neurodivergent people, it’s really easy for us to be overstimulated, but it’s also really easy for us to become understimulated as well. It takes a lot of intentional self-regulation to stay within our narrow range of appropriate stimulation. - Low Frustration-Tolerance
Frustation-tolerance is the ability to withstand frustration without getting overwhelmed, and many neurodivergent people find that they actually have a lower-than-average frustration-tolerance. This means that little things can be more difficult to cope with. - Shame-Based Motivation
This one is a little different from the other examples on this list because shame-based motivation, or the tendency to get stuff done by beating yourself up, isn’t inherent to being neurodivergent. Instead, it’s the result of the trauma that often goes hand-in-hand with neurodivergence. Being labeled as “different” often leads to bullying, discrimination, or even abuse which encourages shame, and shame-based motivation becomes the only way to get things done. - Stimming
Stimming, or self-stimulatory behavior, is basically whenever you move your body in a way that allows you to relax, express yourself, or release pent up energy. Bouncing your leg is a popular stim, along with hand flapping and biting your nails. Everybody stims, but neurodivergent people may derive additional pleasure or relief from stimming. - Very Literal or Very Metaphorical Communication Style
You’ve probably heard that neurodivergent folks tend to be hyperliteral, but did you know we can also be super metaphorical? Some neurodivergent folks take things very literally, but others see everything through the lens of a metaphor. Basically, we have a strict set of rules for seeing the world, but the details of those rules depend on the individual person. - Black and White Thinking
Many neurodivergent people struggle with black and white thinking, and we really struggle to find gray areas. While most people experience black and white thinking in some areas of their life, neurodivergent folks often struggle with black and white thinking about everything from time to their self-concept. - Nonlinear Thinking
Something I love about being neurodivergent is that we tend to think in spirals rather than in straight lines. Instead of going from Point A to Point B, we think in circles, but the circles are consistently moving forward, creating a spiral. This spiral thinking allows us to see things from multiple points of view and try things multiple times in multiple different ways. - No Brain Secretary for Our Brain CEO
One of my favorite metaphors to describe neurodivergence is this idea that everyone’s brain has a CEO that’s in charge of making important decisions, and neurotypical people have a brain secretary that keeps the unimportant stuff off the CEO’s desk. But neurodivergent people often don’t have a secretary, which means the CEO has to deal with everything all at once, making life a bit harder, for sure.
Did you scroll to the bottom of this post because it was a lot of text and you can’t process it all right now? Yeah, that’s another sign you might be neurodivergent. Don’t worry, check out this YouTube video with the same information!
P.S. Are you now thinking “Crap, maybe I really am neurodivergent!” and you have about a million questions? Come hang out with a supportive community of neurodivergent folks (both diagnosed and suspecting) on discord and on Zoom through my Patreon!
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