Extending the Paradigm: From Description to Intention

Adolescence and young adulthood mark a profound phase of identity formation. Yet in our contemporary moment—one of heightened diagnostic awareness and proliferating identity labels—this process is often constrained by essentialised notions of who and what a person “is.” In this session, Dr. Nick Walker, one of the foundational architects of the neurodiversity paradigm, invites a re-examination of these frameworks and proposes a more dynamic understanding of selfhood: one rooted in intentional neurodivergence.

Rather than viewing neurodivergence as a static category or fixed essence, Walker explores it as a living, creative process. Identity, he suggests, is not merely discovered but authored—a practice shaped by attention, relationship, and choice. This session traces how individuals can engage their own cognitive and relational patterns with deliberation and artistry, moving beyond both pathologising and rigid identity narratives.

Drawing from depth psychology, somatic disciplines, contemplative traditions, and decades of transdisciplinary scholarship, Walker articulates how intentionality can serve as an organising principle for development. The question shifts from “What is my neurotype?” to “How do I wish to inhabit and evolve it?” In doing so, he expands the neurodiversity paradigm from description toward praxis—toward ways of being that are consciously cultivated rather than passively inherited.

While grounded in philosophical inquiry, the session offers reflective value for clinicians and scholars alike. Participants are invited to think alongside Walker about how identity categories shape possibility, and how embracing fluidity and intentionality might open new vistas of human development and neurodivergent flourishing.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Discuss how essentialist frameworks can restrict identity formation and limit developmental potential.
• Articulate the concept of intentional neurodivergence as a dynamic and self-authored approach to identity.
• Reflect on how philosophical models of intentionality can inform more expansive understandings of neurodivergent experience.

About Nick Walker

Dr Nick Walker has been a leading thinker on neurodiversity for more than two decades and played a pivotal role in establishing the foundations of the neurodiversity paradigm and the emerging field of Neurodiversity Studies. He is a Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies and a principal architect of its Bachelor of Science programmes in Psychology and Psychedelic Studies.

A transdisciplinary scholar whose work bridges depth and somatic psychology, consciousness studies, and creativity, Walker’s publications include Neuroqueer Heresies and chapters in Diverse Bodies, Diverse Practices and The Routledge Handbook for Creative Futures. He is also co-editor of the annual Spoon Knife neuroqueer anthology series. Beyond academia, he holds a seventh-degree black belt in aikido and serves as senior instructor at the Aiki Arts Center in Berkeley, California.

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