The Pluralistic Universe of Neurodiversity: Doing New Stories

This essay is a story that began during shy*play's one-month residency in Japan in March 2024. The narrative operates within an unbounded triangle of encounters among ever-forming entities. These include the Site of Reversible Destiny, a park in Japan designed by the architectural duo Arakawa and Gins; the noren—traditional fabric dividers hung in doorways and windows; and shy*play's workshop conducted within a participatory installation at the end of the residency. At the heart of this convergence lies a conception of neurodiversity, serving as the magnetic core that draws these three dimensions into dialogue. The essay treats bodies, environments, and languages as co-constitutive relations, incorporating concepts from process philosophy and works by neurodivergent thinkers and artists, and it draws on shy*play's writings and poems expressing some of our embodied experiences in Japan. It is a story that attempts to sidestep the neurotypical, oppressive myth that presumes “normal” and “healthy” bodies exemplify traits such as intelligence, competence, intention, speech, proper gait/movement, cognition, and executive function.