can great apes be neurodivergent? other than humans, obviously
The easy answer to this is yes, but beyond that, its also complicated. Our ideas of neurodivergence are based around divergence from a norm that is entirely anthropocentric (human centred), which makes sense, because we are talking about a human concept for classifying, diagnosing, and treating humans.
So right off the bat, we are applying a human concept to non-humans, but that being said there is some value in doing so. For example, meet Seve!
Seve is one of the many residents at Save the Chimps in Florida, and he is described as having PTSD from his time as a research subject. He has a history of self harm (which he thankfully no longer does), keeps constantly active, hates to be alone, and will occasionally become very upset and start screaming for seemingly no reason. When this happens, other members of his troupe will come to him to comfort him, which helps him calm down.
We can observe (most often in captivity, as observing apes in the wild is more challenging and complex) individual great apes which display characteristics which align with what we would consider post traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety, but it is also important that we consider that this is interpretive.
tl;dr: Non-human apes can display traits and behaviors that align with what we consider neurodivergence, but this is within the scope of human observation and interpretation.
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