Dignidad humana y reconocimiento. Una propuesta en torno a la vida y la muerte para la comunidad neurodiversa

People with some variety of functional diversity have been throughout history the object of rejection, contempt, social exclusion, and uneven treatment. There are several types of functional diversity and this work addresses intellectual diversity or, in other words, atypical neurocognitive functioning. In response to the dynamics of exclusion, an emancipatory movement emerged at the end of the last century that was born from people on the autism spectrum and formulated the term neurodiversity. It illustrates that there are neurological differences between all human beings, and even in the same individual throughout his life, which must be understood as simple variations in functioning that are natural and valuable. This work criticizes the criteria of normality imposed by medical-scientific knowledge to medicalize neurodivergent people. From bioethics, it is relevant to address this issue since there is a problem related to the value and respect deserved by these individuals. This theoretical exercise attempts to make the neurodiversity movement visible as a social justice movement that seeks equal rights and full social inclusion. An analysis of the life and death process is proposed as a clear example in which discriminatory behaviors occur. Based on this situation, some strategies are proposed such as the construction of life projects, the strengthening of autonomy, and demands for recognition to achieve dignified treatment and adequate recognition within society.