Chloé Hayden is a speaker, actor, author, and disability rights activist. You might have caught her on the rebooted Heartbreak High where she plays Quinni.
Chloe was diagnosed as Autistic at age thirteen and all of her incredible and varied work aims to support, make visible and build understanding about Neurodiversity.
Different, Not Less is something of a clarion call to a Neurotypical word that Neurodiversity exists and that it is Different, Not Less. Chloe’s story is part biography, part manifesto, part warm hug for neurodiverse folk (who incidentally, make up about 12% of the population according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics).
Full disclosure here, In my day job I am a Speech Pathologist and supporting neurodiversity is a big and important part of what I try to do every day. For too long the work of understanding and making decisions for people on the Autism Spectrum has been left to Neurotypical people. I wanted to bring you all this book because it speaks so well to things that many of us don’t have in our daily experience, but that we need to understand to better make the world a place that is open for everyone.
Chloe’s book pulls back the veil on the ways that a neurotypical world too often gets it wrong when it comes to neurodiverse people.
Taking the structure of Autobiography, Chloe explores her experiences from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood. In these stories she talks about her confusion at not understanding why she didn’t fit in, her torment at the hands of people who wanted her to conform to a certain way of being and the harms she experienced trying to be someone she’s not.
Along the way she teaches the reader about what it means to be Autistic and (to come back to the title) why it is different not less.
Chloe bares her soul to help the reader understand sensory difference and how sensory processing underpins so much of our daily experiences. The book works to bring a relatable understanding of sensory processing and how extreme sensations can disrupt a person's daily experiences.
The story takes in what it means to feel apart, or outside the everyday of peers and family. Chloe explores her own pain to help people understand both what it means to be Autistic, but also what isn’t inherent, but is in fact a product of the way society treats people who are different.
Mental Health is a big and important conversation in the book. Chloe has a wonderful way of introducing the topic and of preparing readers with signals for topics that may be too much.
And there’s a lot in this book that feels too much. We are shown the harm that is done in a one-size-fits-all world, a world that has little tolerance for difference.
There’s a lot to recommend Different Not Less but I would say it is hard to go past its heart and the generous way Chloe Hayden takes her platform and uses it to support a world that has not done its fair share to understand.
Neurodiversity is about all of us and supporting neurodiverse folks means taking more time to listen to their stories and then changing our world to be a more open place.
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