Season 7, Episode 3: Neurodivergence in Chinese Culture with Sharen Lui
This week, Monique chats with Sharen Lui. Sharen is a neurodivergent Educational and Developmental Psychologist and the Director of Sprout Psychology Melbourne.
Sharen specialises in neurodivergence within Asian communities, supporting families with assessments, therapy, and culturally responsive mental health support.
In this episode, we cover:
What neurodivergence means to Sharen and the driving force behind establishing Sprout Psychology in Melbourne.
Sharen’s path to discovering her own neurodivergence and the role of her cultural identity in this process.
The impact of words and language on the perception of neurodivergence in Chinese culture.
The importance of meeting Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) families and individuals ‘where they are at’ when working therapeutically.
How do Chinese cultural norms interact with the experience of neurodivergence? Sharen talks Monique through filial piety, gendered expectations for women, and behavioural norms around what it means to be a ‘mature’ adult within Chinese culture.
The layers of masking for neurodivergent Chinese folk.
Barriers to accessing culturally competent neurodiversity-affirming health care in Australia for neurodivergent Chinese folk, and Sharen’s work in this space.
Things to keep in mind when working with CALD groups.
[00:01:14] What neurodivergence means to Sharen and the driving force behind establishing Sprout Psychology in Melbourne.
Key Takeaways:
Sharen says that neurodiversity is beautiful, with each person—like every plant—flourishing in their own way when given the right environment, nourishment, and support.
Neurodivergent individuals have played a vital role throughout history by challenging norms and pushing boundaries in politics, science, literature, art, and social movements.
Sharen’s journey with Asian neurodivergence started with her work with adults, where she saw the harm caused by non-affirming practices that prioritise conformity, control and suppress autonomy.
This, along with 10 years of experience understanding the origins of mental health challenges—many rooted in unacknowledged neurodiversity—deeply shaped her establishment of Sprout Psychology Melbourne, with a mission to prevent harm through impactful therapy and psychoeducation.
[00:04:07] Sharen’s path to discovering her own neurodivergence and the role of her cultural identity in this process.
Key Takeaways:
Sharen’s realisation began over a decade ago during her early work with adults, when a client’s story resonated so strongly with her own that it prompted her to reflect with her supervisor—but at the time, she didn’t believe she was neurodivergent.
For at least five years, Sharen sat with uncertainty, going back and forth about her neurodivergence, influenced by external disbelief and the assumption that because she managed so much and appeared successful, it couldn’t apply to her.
Her understanding grew gradually through clinical experience, especially working with families, but she highlights that many in Asian and CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) communities are still learning what neurodivergence looks like in these contexts.
Being neurodivergent as an Asian woman made navigating roles like daughter, wife, friend, and mother very hard, with little recognition or understanding from others of how her identities intersect.
Lack of awareness, guidance, and representation around neurodivergence within Asian and especially Chinese communities made the early part of Sharen’s journey particularly difficult, which is why she now advocates to help others feel less alone.
“Navigating roles such as a daughter, a wife, a friend, and a mum was very, very hard. Getting recognised in these roles seems almost impossible by today’s standards as a woman—and as an Asian woman, even more so.”
[00:10:38] The impact of words and language on the perception of neurodivergence in Chinese culture.
Key Takeaways:
Historically, there has been very little societal awareness of neurodivergence in Chinese culture, which creates barriers in communication, diagnosis accuracy, and community awareness.
Autism, in particular, has been misunderstood because the Chinese term (自闭症 zì bì zhèng) frames it negatively as a “self-enclosed disease” or “disease of loneliness.”
In Mandarin, the term for ADHD focuses heavily on the hyperactive subtype, leading to a limited understanding of inattentive presentations.
While awareness of ADHD presentations is improving, even now, Autism is still narrowly understood.
Early in Sharen’s career, clients would sometimes withdraw from sessions when Autism was mentioned, but now there is growing awareness of ADHD through social media, even though understanding of Autism remains limited.
When introducing the idea of Autism or ADHD, she learnt it was better to meet families where they were at emotionally, rather than risk overwhelming them and delaying acceptance for years.
Western neurodiversity-affirming ideas cannot simply be transferred into Chinese or CALD communities without considering cultural and linguistic nuances, and practitioners play a critical role as bridges between cultures.
Sharen, who is personally involved in raising awareness, said that momentum is building, particularly through social media across China and other Asian countries. She sees hope that awareness is slowly increasing.
[00:19:48] The Social Model of Disability and Chinese cultural norms
Key Takeaways:
Monique shares that when thinking about neurodivergence through the social model of disability, it is important to also include the cultural model of disability by exploring cross-cultural differences in what is considered “normative” behaviour.
Sharen explains that filial piety, which asks for obedience, respect, support, and following the broader family agenda, remains a deeply embedded expectation in Chinese culture, creating difficulties not only for younger generations but even more so for neurodivergent people.
Historically, women in Chinese culture have had specific expectations around proper virtue, proper speech, proper facial expressions, and proper conduct. Being ‘sleek’—which refers to being ‘smooth’ and ‘go-with-the-flow’—is seen as a form of maturity and an example of knowing how to live in society.
Sharen explains that many neurodivergent individuals who experience the pressure of cultural expectations and cannot meet them often end up in the clinical population, presenting with complex trauma linked to exclusion, misunderstanding, bullying, abandonment, and the clash between neurotype and cultural norms.
[00:32:25] The layers of masking for neurodivergent Chinese folk.
Key Takeaways:
Monique reflects that within cultures where people are expected to represent their family and maintain “good face”, masking may not just be about hiding neurodivergence but also about fulfilling cultural expectations around not showing their real emotions or experience.
Sharen explains that in Chinese and Asian collective cultures, masking is often a protective mechanism and unmasking without understanding the cultural implications of stress can be harmful.
Many neurodivergent individuals and families want to maintain face and prefer not to show the world who they really are, and practitioners must individualise their approach rather than automatically encouraging unmasking.
After eleven years of working with her identity, Sharen has found strength through support from neurodivergent peers and psychologists, but acknowledges that everyone is at different paces and situations, and that’s okay.
Sharen shares that it took her five years to gain self-awareness of her neurodivergence and another five years to work through internalised ableism, battling the belief that you cannot be both a successful practitioner and have differences in how your brain operates.
[00:39:28] Barriers to accessing culturally competent neurodiversity-affirming health care and things to keep in mind when working with CALD groups.
Key takeaways:
The social model of disability has not yet been well translated into CALD communities or to CALD psychologists, and resources tend to be based on the medical model, making it difficult to smoothly apply Western perspectives universally.
Sharen’s team has developed Chinese-language resources based on the social model of disability, and emphasises that bilingual and culturally competent practitioners, who are willing to learn about the neurodiversity-affirming movement, are essential bridges for bringing these ideas into their communities.
Accurate identification of neurodivergence is complicated by the overlap between complex trauma and neurodivergent traits, as symptoms can be deeply intertwined with experiences of exclusion, misunderstanding, and bullying.
Finding culturally safe, affirming support services is difficult, but speech therapists and occupational therapists are starting to offer better-aligned services. Seeking supervision and being mindful of not forcing affirmative practices is important to avoid causing harm when working with CALD clients / patients.
Sharen explains that it is common for clinicians to feel like most of their clients are neurodivergent, and reassures that this is not inaccurate, because the way neurodivergent people interact with the world exposes them to psychological, social, educational, and workplace challenges that often lead them to seek mental health support later in life.
Connect with Sharen Lui:
@sproutpsychology on Instagram
Things We Mentioned:
Monique and Sharen also gave a shout-out to LOAPAC (The League of Autistic Psychologists and Affirming Colleagues), which you can check out to find an affirming psychologist.
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