To think the terms "neuro diverse" and "neuro typical" will be short lived.

[theplatformedge]

Diversity means "a range of many people or things that are very different from each other" (Oxford learner's dictionary), so the idea that a minority of people are "neuro diverse" and everyone else is "neuro typical" is not only semantically illogical, but also potentially offensive.

We're all different. Some people have traits that make life more difficult for them than others, whether it be ASD, ADHD or a range of other conditions, with spectrums of severity. Telling people that you're neuro-diverse is so vague as to be meaningless, and telling other people they are nero-typical when you have no idea what they're feeling inside is insensitive. Some people get a formal diagnosis for their symptoms, some people self-diagnose and others don't recognise it in themselves. Nobody knows how many people are living with these traits across the population, but the massive increase in diagnostics suggests they're a lot more common than anyone ever thought in the past, and therefore gradually becoming very "typical".

Discuss! 🙂

Exactly, but I have seen that attitude in reference to NTs kicking about, which is why I referenced it.

I don't think NT people generally spend much time wondering whether they're ND. If somebody is spending time reading up on being ND chances are they're ND

@gluggle I totally disagree. Just talk to teenagers on tik tok

Unfortunately, @theplatformedge I have seen those exact words used to describe NT people.

If ND people start to call NT people bland boring and beige (absolute bullshit) I would be very quick to tell them what I thought of them too

So NT people are supposed to be understanding and tolerant of ND people while some ND people are going on with this utter bullshit, unbelieveable!

you're allowed to think an individual is bland and boring, because some people are, but using it to generalise a whole group? No.

@AloeNora why on earth did you think I was referring to your child by referring to my sister and father?

@BlueGrey1 it's not necessarily ND people doing it. I think a lot of the time it's people who think they are ND because they organise their sock drawer. To those who aren't really ND and know little about it, it looks like some sort of exclusive club they want to belong to which makes them special. The kind of people who think like this tend to be the ones who use 'NT' as a slur, because they think it gets them 'in with the crowd'. They are also the kind of people who are in reality pretty negative about ND people who don't fit with their idea of what ND is.

Regardless of their merits, I think new expressions or terms will be found.

@YuleDragon agreed. I'm pretty bland and boring myself, and I come under the ND umbrella.

You'll stop being tolerant and understanding? Those really aren't the qualities you convey in your posts 😂

You come across as deeply unpleasant, ignorant and ableist.

@gluggle

Not being unpleasant and ableist at all, giving my point of view, just not interested in listening to every Tom, dick and Harry proclaiming that they are ND

I am sorry that this thread is upsetting people. On the other hand, it is quite useful for people like me who have relatively little direct contact with many people with ASD/ADHD in their lives.

We have a family friend, whose son is autistic and is now almost 50. He stims continuously, lives in a care home and is non-verbal other than reciting words from cartoons on a loop. He is unable to look after himself at all. I also have a colleague with ASD who works full-time but can find social situations overwhelming and she needs time out. Those are the only (openly) autistic people I know. I would have said that my colleague has ‘milder’ autism, then the son of my family friend.

this thread has made me look at things differently. Both about the nature of autism, but also about the language we use. I will definitely look into it further and be more sensitive if I speak about ASD.

I hope that could be seen as a positive outcome of this thread? I understand that others find it upsetting though.

OK. So for some reason you don't like hearing people talk about their neurodivergence. It doesn't interest you, probably because you don't relate. You can think that privately of course and turn your attention elsewhere - but can't you see how offensive it is for you to voice that out loud? Would you be happy to say the same about other disabilities?

It's important that people can be open about neurodivergence. If that doesn't interest you, fine, whatever - why persist on posting about a subject you are apparently not interested in and know little about?

"Discuss!" FYI, mostly annoying because we assume you're gathering both sides reactions for whatever article you'll be flogging to the DM.

The terms? Of course they'll be short lived, just like any terminology like that, because someone will decide we need new terms as these are outdated. It happens every 10 years or so.

When did you start?

How does a spectrum work if not to identify something that can be at any point between two opposite/extreme ends of a scale?

I am in an ND group on FB. One member refers to NT people as "neuro-bores".
That really pissed me off. No one is boring.

the spectrum is actually a triad of impairments which you’re either on or not on. The triad of impairments enables the term autism to be applied to very different individuals. The spectrum is not linear between being autistic and not being autistic, this idea is just a modern fable.

i.e. The "spectrum" is in the process of being replaced by a "wheel": https://ablelight.org/blog/why-the-autism-wheel-is-replacing-the-spectrum/

Neurodivergent is the term I would use and I do think it will eventually be replaced because most language develops and most terminology seems to change. I remember when a family member was diagnosed many years ago you would refer to the condition secondary to the person ('person with autism') however I read recently that it is often considered offensive and instead 'autistic person' should be used.

I was once part of a volunteering group for women's services postnatally and I referred to myself as autistic and one of the other peers stopped me and told me it's person with autism, not autistic person because in their training they learnt to put the person before the illness.

I was absolutely stunned, because autism is not an illness so I don't need to be put before anything, and being autistic is part of my genetic and social makeup, so it's important to be recognised as such.

I'm sure that it will vary from person to person though, and I wouldn't get flustered if someone referred to me as a person with autism, rather than an autistic person.

I will always be stunned though when someone stops me to tell me how to refer to myself.

My DP is autistic. That is how he refers to himself, and he wears a Hidden Disabilities lanyard and card that says "I am autistic" on it.
His diagnosis was Asperger's Syndrome, but that seems to get people in a froth nowadays too.

Refer to yourself how you want. It is your diagnosis, and your life.

If anyone tried to police the language I use to describe myself they would get told in no uncertain terms to fuck off.