Diversity as Tech
Isn't it interesting how people often refer to the brain as a computer, yet also struggle to comprehend those that are neurodiverse? They happily accept that smartphones, tablets, laptops etc can have different operating systems such as Windows, Mac, even android, yet someone having a different identity then they appear is against the norms? Like a windows computer that actually has the Linux OS.
As a sector built on such diverse knowledge, the diversity of people within it is so limited. But! It is getting better. Being Transgender, Pansexual and neurodivergent (or as I call it - neuro-spicy) it has been hard to navigate life, let alone any specifics. The way others receive people like me is extremely disheartening when you consider the direction the world is taking for progress. How will people manage when they see a robot if only they/them can be used for plural and your gender is 'whatever is in your pants'?
As the world grows, I believe people in these communities will become more valuable in shaping the way we view and build technical advancements. Growing up, I struggled in a lot of areas because of my neuro-spiciness, maths was hell and science? Absolutely not. But when I started to program, things made sense. While others were struggling to understand how an if/else
statement ran in python, I had already finished weeks worth of work and built my own programs. Even my teachers couldn't keep up! I began to use code to help me understand my other subjects and maths became that bit easier, science became manageable and by my exams I passed everything.
Still though, I've continued to ponder on why I could click so easily with programming, but not with "normal" things. Yes, I'm neuro-spicy, but why is it that learning HTML and CSS is as easy as speaking English yet trying to learn Spanish or Norwegian is like a doctorate in rocket science. It is still a language after all.
Now that I have decided to return to my keyboard mantle and (hopefully) get a role within the IT sector, I'm interested to see which programming languages I find easy or hard and who knows, maybe some type of programming language can help me learn...
I'm currently learning HTML, CSS and Bootstrap on my course and so if you enjoy nerdy jokes, neuro-spiciness and funny stories of trying to explain code to my none technical family, please follow along. Maybe you'll learn something too, or maybe just get a laugh but together we can navigate the sector from the eyes of diversity itself. Hopefully I find out what operating system this brain of mine is on and what language it uses!