Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think “neurodivergent” is being used too casually and too often?

192 replies

MauveOrca · 06/07/2025 11:42

Every quirk or preference doesn’t mean you’re ND. I know diagnoses help some people but it feels like it’s now shorthand for anything outside the mainstream. Can we not just have variation without a label?

OP posts:
tigerlady14 · 06/07/2025 16:33

I am autistic and it is useful to have label for accessing services and support I.e reasonable adjustments in work and study, occupational health etc.

ShamrockShenanigans · 06/07/2025 16:30

I think what you might possibly be thinking about is self-diagnosis?

There's a lot of that about and especially online.

For example, a lot of people don't know the difference between feeling anxious, and actually suffering from anxiety.

Ditto OCD.

MrsSunshine2b · 06/07/2025 16:28

We tried that, and we still got labels.

Like lazy, stupid, scatter-brained, difficult, rude, naughty.

The problem isn't that ND people "want a label". The problem is that NT people don't do "accepting differences" unless they are forced to by law.

FloofyBird · 06/07/2025 16:27

Fringle · 06/07/2025 15:47

True. But valid every week.

In your opinion. Not in mine.

Amanitacae · 06/07/2025 16:26

What would the benefit be in using the term neurodivergent less often?

Cheeseplantandcrackers · 06/07/2025 16:25

Do you know how hard it is to get a diagnosis?

Maybe it’s just that people are finally being assessed?

Goody2ShoesAndTheFilthyBeast · 06/07/2025 16:21

We could have variation without diagnosis if it wasn't for the large number of nt people who treat nd people like shit.

If we get to a point where nd people aren't laughed at, struggle to find friends and really struggle to find employment then maybe it wouldn't be an issue.

I guess we need to wait for the nt world to improve to a point where 'labels' aren't required in orde4 to stand a chance of being treated like everyone else. 🤷‍♀️

Summerevenimgchill · 06/07/2025 16:21

Are you an expert on it op?

Lots of adults have quietly struggled or been misdiagnosed as being anxious/depressed/bipolar.

What makes you think that every quirk is being labelled as autism/adhd? People don’t always publicise what they’ve been through.

Goody2ShoesAndTheFilthyBeast · 06/07/2025 16:17

By label do you mean diagnosis?
People who are nd shouldn't be made to feel like they ought to hide it.

Disturbia81 · 06/07/2025 16:15

No I think it’s showing that far more people are ND than we think. It explains so many behaviours and encourages people to make allowances if we recognise it. Not abuse etc of course

TigerRag · 06/07/2025 16:04

It's not a label

PolyVagalNerve · 06/07/2025 16:03

OP asks … can we not have a variation without a label ???

no label = no reasonable adjustments, no mitigations, no occupational health / HR appropriate responses No school mitigations
No come back for those that discriminate

say you have a disorder / a problem …
the label is often the gateway to the remedy / support / treatment required !!!!!

GonnaeNoDaeThatJustGonnaeNo · 06/07/2025 16:00

No. You don’t get to decide. Why should people be silenced.

Ponderingwindow · 06/07/2025 15:58

Nope. It’s time for us to stop being quiet. We have lived in a world build for the mainstream for far too long. The more noise we make, the more we can change things.

PolyVagalNerve · 06/07/2025 15:52

We are within a social / cultural revolution of neurodivergent awareness,
it is long overdue that society is considering ND so widely …
mental health services are FuLL of people living the repercussions of being ND in a. Typical world -
let’s hope that changes as society becomes more aware of/ accepting and accommodating of ND’s

Fringle · 06/07/2025 15:47

True. But valid every week.

FloofyBird · 06/07/2025 15:43

This gets posted like every week

Swipe left for the next trending thread