Strength in Cognitive Difference

Karen Kwon

An inclusive approach to neurodiversity in STEM can enable creative problem solving.

Diversity silhouette[wildpixel / Getty Images]

Arash E. Zaghi, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Connecticut, USA, had seen therapist after therapist for his depression and anxiety. In one such encounter, the therapist suggested Zaghi take a diagnostic test for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The result stunned Zaghi: “I think I scored the highest possible,” he says. Confirming the diagnosis, his therapist said, “The anxiety that you’re experiencing is the product of your ADHD in an environment that is not necessarily built with people like you in consideration.”

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