What is the percentage of neurodivergents - Dr. Martin Bloomfield (Part 1)

 

In a recent LinkedIn post by Dr. Martin Bloomfield I asked what % of the population can be considered neurodivergent.

He gave a detailed reply as follows:

Such a good question, and impossible (at the moment, although I'm working on something...) to answer with any degree of certainty.

So, you have several intersections making the precise answer impossible: you have intersections of (or shared neurotypes/ phenotypes of) ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, autism, etc. You have intersections of neurodivergence and gender. You have intersections of neurodivergence and wealth/ poverty. You then have different cultural intersections. And you have different definitions of each of the neurotypes, different ways of measuring them, different "official" (hah!) measurements... (see www.DyslexiaCompass.eu, something I'm proud to have led on). You also have the problem of no databases (quite right too) with any reliable figures. Essentially, all the figures right now are guesswork.

Best guess? I'd say between 15-20%. But it's still an estimate.

Reading Reform Foundation and Dr. Marlynne Grant (Part 2)

 

Here are extracts of the response by Dr. Marlynne to British Dyslexia Association and my comments.

Marlynne:

There are longitudinal studies of 11 years, with about 700 children, which demonstrate that dyslexia does not develop when children begin with a good SSP programme and when children who fall behind are identified early and given extra practice and teaching with SSP in order to keep up. Not a single child in these studies developed severe literacy difficulties. (See Grant, M (2014)

My comment: