We’re all ‘Neurodiverse’

[LuminousCrystalFox]

I regularly see the term neurodiverse used when what the person is actually referring to is neurodivergent. Saying ‘I’m neurodiverse’ or ‘My DH is neurodiverse’, isn’t particularly meaningful. I see neurodiverse used on a lot of websites as well, as an umbrella term for many neurodivergent conditions, which doesn’t help either.

Neurodiversity is simply a concept which recognises the variety of ways human brains can function. It is akin to Biodiveristy.

Yes they are. 'Neurotypical' is an artificial construct. Everyone diverges from it sometimes, somehow.

@DeanElderberry

No they're not.

I am divergent, you are divergent, everyone else is divergent.

No one is entirely 'typical' Thank goodness.

Goady or lacking intelligence. I reckon goady.

I don't think you're either.

neurodiverse doesn’t tell you anything about a person though. We are all diverse.

Neurodivergent is opposed to neurotypical. If you are neurotypical you don’t need a diagnosis because your behaviour falls within the range of normal behaviour and is not a handicap to you.

If you are neurodivergent you have a diagnosis and your behaviour falls outside of the normal range; it is a handicap to you in how you function in your everyday life and can be quite severe in how much help you may need to live day to day.

We are not all neurodivergent. The whole point of these terms is to identify who may need help in their everyday lives, for instance those who cannot hold down a job because of their disability. Or those who may need looking after 24/7 because they have not developed neurotypically and have severely reduced cognitive abilities.

It is not just grammar; it is about accurately describing something in order to have appropriate responses from for instance health services.

We can't all be neurodivergent because by definition you need people who are neurotypical to diverge from.

. . . but then you could say that your 'neurodivergent' child is 'neurotypical' within the SEN school environment.

You're wrong.

Everyone might display a-typical behaviour but not everybody has a neurodevelopmental disorder which changes how they perceive the world, interact, form connections, form habits, experience sensations and maintain relationships.

You might forget to text a friend back for a few days because you're busy, I might forget to text a friend back because the language they used was ambiguous and I did not pick up on a social cue because my brain is formed differently to you.

You might get a headache if you're round a hoard of screaming children, my blood pressure will shoot so high it will feel like I am having a heart attack and on the brink of an aneurism or lose control of my ability to self regulate and become really fighty or flighty.

You might find multiple noises overlapping hard to hear through, I will not be able to hear any one at all because I would be in shut down and will need to be guided out of that area and given hours to process the environment I have just been in before I can tolerate any other stimulus without shutting down again.

You might find brushing your teeth a simple easy singular task, I find it to be a hard habit to form and it's actually about 12 individual tasks that all take careful energy and planning and when something interrupts this process it means it gets abandoned as I am extremely overwhelmed and dysregulated.

You probably do just intend to be offensive and antagonistic but it's actually really sad that you're so closed minded and have an inability to be educated about this.

perhaps it should be 'neurodisordered' then

that would make more sense

I think the idea that there is a such a binary distinction between the Neurotypical and Neurodivergent is hugely inaccurate and damaging. I know it's hated on MN but the reality is that to diagnose many ND conditions, there is diagnostic criteria and certain thresholds need to be met. There will always be people that fall just short of the criteria or just meet it.

There is also the issue that the diagnosis process for conditions like ADHD rely heavily on self reporting and filling in questionnaires. This is notoriously unreliable. Even an ASD diagnosis which is purportedly more 'scientific' in nature, isn't really all that scientific at all.

I know what it means and that's fine but if we are going to focus in on the actual words I don't really like it. It's a bit reductive isn't it to call people either typical or divergent, sounds like something out of a dystopian futurist novel.

I didn't read this post like that with reference to 'explain themselves'. I read it that people are always interested in introspection and understanding themselves. I don't see anything wrong with that.

I don't think most people are that interested in other people; they're willing to accept 'different' because we all do have differences and I don't think that anybody wants to think that they fit 'into a box' of any sort. I certainly don't.

I don't know or care - for myself - to understand whether I'm this or that. It makes no difference to my life. It makes no difference to me either whether other people do want to delve into themselves but I'm not interested, I accept them as they are on the basis that they are what they are.

I think this is what's missing. Widespread and universal tolerance without the need for so much self-analysis/self-diagnosis, labelling and discussion of everything.

My son has ASD and I say he's neurodiverse. I didn't even realise that was wrong! Something else to think about on the start of this journey... 🤦🏻‍♀️

It is not binary.
Typical in this context is a range of behaviours, that fall within an accepted level of functionality in our societies.
Many people will have some traits that make things difficult for them, but they don’t have the cluster of dysfunctionality that necessitates a diagnosis.

Divergent in this context is also a range of behaviours, and there are many levels of dysfuntionality within this. That’s why I used the examples of not being able to work full time, to the level where you need care 24/7.

The diagnostic criteria are what they are, but obviously practitioners in the field will always vary in what they perceive in their clients. It is not automatic diagnosis from bloodtests or such. Human error or just different interpretations play a huge part in this.

I still think using accurate language and not diluting the terms is very important.

Some person once informed me that autistic children should only be cared for and taught by autistic adults. I did Wonder what planet they were on and if their definition of autistic was wildly different from mine - and concluded it must be.
My high functioning asd son has enough on his plate navigating his day at University. No way would he be able to mind another autistic child and function well himself. We know this because my daughter is low functioning and my asd son cannot mind her. My son who is not asd can.

I use the term neurodivergent only when it’s absolutely necessary for my own self preservation. Most of the time i don’t tell anyone, anything at all and just ‘mask,mask,mask’. My diagnosis doesn’t take away the shame I still feel at being different. And so many people believe NDs to be fashionable and/or over diagnosed - you might imagine this adds to the shame in ‘coming out’. So at least neurodivergent gives me a little privacy rather than stating the actual condition.

Gosh I hadn't thought of the grammar. Good point!

Pretty bloody useful to be able to not give myself bowel cancer by not having damage from gluten. Useful to know this was why I wasn't absorbing vitamin D, so I can make sure I don't have osteomalacia again and avoid osteopenia and osteoporosis in the future. Explains why I would also be anaemic.

The ADHD diagnosis has been kind of useful, too, what with the accommodations work have put into effect to enable me to provide them with more of my brain power now I'm not driven to thoughts of bashing my head in on the desk due to it being in a place of continual distractions and interruptions. 'Why does she get her own office?' 'Because she needs it'.

There's always some cunt that tries to dismiss it, though. They never last long in the place, as being done for Disability Discrimination isn't very appealing to senior management.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with introspection and understanding yourself and no one needs a label to do that but having a label is massively useful to some people and they should be able to get a diagnosis if they so wish without the poster I was commenting on suggesting that adults are getting diagnosis as a way of explaining how their life hasn't planned out they way they though hence the 'explain themselves' comment.

I have obviously interpreted the post differently to you but I stand by the fact it's either a disgusting comment or worded very poorly!

@NeverDropYourMooncup I was talking about those with "allergies" which are actually just preferences and in no way life changing. It used to be the "thing" before everyone jumped on the non NT bandwagon, now everyone is self diagnosing. Something else will be along in a minute and attention-seekers will hang onto that and leave genuine food allergists and NDs alone.

@WhyDoesItAlways I don't see how my comment is "disgusting". I said some people like a "label". This takes away the seriousness of those with genuine conditions. People like to adopt a trend. I'm not belittling genuine cases just acutely aware that some people try to pigeonhole themselves unnecessarily in an attempt to understand who they are.

I also didn't say how life has "planned" out but "panned" out.

This is bollocks. It’s not easy to get a diagnosis

This depends on what diagnosis you're after. It's actually quite easy for example to get a diagnosis for ADHD if you do your research and answer the diagnostic questionnaires and assessment questions accordingly. I could get an ADHD diagnosis pretty easily because I know the traits and would know what they're looking for. They couldn't run tests or scans to disprove what I am claiming. This is where the controversy comes in.

I don't necessarily think people are purposely gaming the system but sometimes are over reporting their symptoms because this is a common thing that happens where self assessment is required and why scientific studies that rely on this area usually deemed to be of poor quality.