Irish Examiner view: You could see neurodiversity as different flavours of our shared humanity
Sharon NĂ ChonchĂșir provided food for thought in her article about neurodiversity in 'Irish Examiner Feelgood'. File picture: Domnick Walsh
It would do us all a service to take a moment to value the neurodivergent people in our lives.
Perhaps itâs because the worldâs most powerful administration is continuing its assault on disabled citizens; perhaps itâs because Greta Thunberg, who is autistic, recently revealed the extent of her physical abuse and degradation at the hands of Israeli captors.Â
Or perhaps itâs because this publication regularly highlights the shortfalls in services toward our disabled citizens, or the challenges they face accessing what, for many, is taken for granted â such as education.
Or perhaps it is simply because â to cite the 19th century Scottish writer Ian Maclaren â we should be kind because everyone we meet is fighting a hard battle (this could apply to any part of your daily life, mind).
Regardless of the reason to take a moment, itâs worth remembering also that you almost certainly know at least one person from that community.
Perhaps itâs a close relative. Perhaps itâs you.
Some members of the community, particularly social media influencers, refer to it as âneurospicyâ to better communicate that itâs just a different flavouring of humanity as opposed to an illness.
Neurodiversity, a broad term originating in the autistic community, covers a wide range from autism to ADHD to dyslexia and a myriad others. It argues that these are not conditions to be cured, but rather variations in human neurology.Â
They may present serious challenges to daily life, or they may not, to the extent that some people may not even realise they fit the diagnoses until later in life, as noted in the feature by Sharon NĂ ChonchĂșir on our section last Friday, which you can read here.
Counselling psychologist Jessica McKnight, who was interviewed for the article, pointed in particular to the difficulties neurodivergent women face, especially if undiagnosed.Â
She pointed to issues with organisation, time management, maintaining focus, and social interactions as common features.
âThere can also be feelings of inadequacy, underachievement, and overwhelm,â McKnight says.Â
The increase in adult diagnoses, as the report outlined, is not down to a sudden actual increase. Rather, itâs down to greater awareness of what, for example, constitutes ADHD.Â
Similarly, the basis for diagnosing autism is wider than it was even 10 years ago.Â
It is not, no matter what US misinformation may attempt to claim, because there is an epidemic â itâs just that there is a better process and way of understanding how an individualâs behaviours or difficulties may fit a diagnosis.
A diagnosis may be of great relief to the individual, or the family; or conversely it may be an additional source of stress should one go about trying to access necessary supports or therapies, only to find them absent or in short supply. And itâs worth remembering that people who have ADHD or autism are at a higher risk of mental health difficulties.
Nonetheless, a greater number of workplaces are doing better jobs at supporting their neurodivergent staff. Could businesses do better generally? Probably.Â
As last Fridayâs report reminded us, employers have a legal responsibility to support their neurodivergent staff, as it is often considered a disability. Still, many people prefer not to disclose their diagnosis, if they have one, so as to avoid stigma, which alone should serve as a reminder that we can all do a little better, a little bit at a time, to make the country a more psychologically safe environment.
We have a long way to go â the HSE waiting list for adult diagnoses in Cork and Kerry has been closed, and private assessments are expensive, while Camhs lists seemingly stretch almost to infinity â but we may get there eventually. What a country weâd have then.
So-called artificial intelligence (itâs not actually intelligent) comes in for something of heavy criticism on these pages, much of it well deserved.
Thatâs largely due to the hubris of the companies behind it, and in particular generative AI, which absorbs vast quantities of copyrighted material for training, and frequently invents things depending on what it predicts the user wants.
OpenAI, the best-known of the AI companies and one which is officially non-profit but is actively attempting to change this, has revealed that it is going to relax its guard-rails around mental health. These were put up in the most recent version of the app after evidence of people becoming addictively tied up in emotional ChatGPT conversations, based around the âpersonalityâ present in the tech.
Now Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, says the company will not only reintroduce this element of personality, but also allow users to generate erotica.Â
Because nothing says âweâve learned our lessonâ like adding a feature likely to trigger addiction worse than those seen before.
It is a testament to the quality of food produced on this island that Ireland took an outsized chunk of medals on offer at the World Steak Challenge (yes, thatâs a thing, and Bord Bia is a partner) in Amsterdam recently.
Irish beef took 24 gold medals out of 124, and 68 of the total 304 medals up for grabs. Grass-fed beef was responsible for a swathe of our overall haul, in ribeye and fillet categories.
It comes as cattle prices overall surged 53.8% from August 2024 to August 2025, while processors here are experiencing a shortfall of cattle bodies coming into one of a traditionally busy season for beef, with the kill count (itâs not as ominous as it sounds) down about 25% week to week. This is, in part, down to consumer resistance to higher beef prices in the butcher or supermarket.
Our beef may be among the best in the world, but we have a delicately balanced industry.
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