To think you actually *can* be a bit...

[gringlewalden]

Autistic
OCD
ADHD

and a whole load of others?

I know people will often (angrily) declare that you can't be 'a bit' autistic, OCD etc, they're very serious diagnoses, you either are or you aren't etc etc.

However

The diagnostic criteria are made up of lists of indicators. You fulfil a certain number of these, you get the diagnosis.

So if the diagnosis is based on fulfilling, say, 25 of the criteria, and you fulfil 20, would it not be fair enough to say you are 'more' autistic that someone who fulfils 5?

Is it not the nature of all spectrums, that everyone must fall somewhere on them?**

@gringlewalden are you ND or autistic?
I am an autistic adult with relatively low support needs in my day to day life. I am one of those people who 'angrily' declares we are not all a little bit autistic much like we aren't all a little bit pregnant. It is exhausting to have my lived experience and voice talked over by NT people who may have some traits but realistically have actually no idea how disabling being autistic can be.

But OCD isn't about 'being bothered by' or 'uncomfortable'.

It's distress, often severe, that continues until a ritual is carried out.

What you're describing is perfectionism, or liking things a particular way.

Genuine question - are there people who wouldn’t be bothered by the above examples? I know I would be. In my mind’s eye, I’m already reaching for the upside down book!

It irks me when people say they're a bit OCD or whatever when what they really mean is that they like things neat and tidy or like patterns and structure. It's definitely not the same thing and I think quite offensive to genuine sufferers.

Agreed it's not the same thing but I assume it's used as a form of shorthand that everyone universally understands. What do you think should be used as shorthand even if only for your examples?

I agree with you OP. If it was based on one or two traits then it would be obvious you are either in or out, but when there are multiple traits it's a lot harder to say you are, or you aren't.

People who say ‘you can be a little bit autistic’ have no idea what autism actually is. If someone was registered blind or deaf you wouldn’t have fuckwits going ‘ah but are you a little bit blind/deaf or you know… that kind of blind/deaf. Cos my mate John wears glasses/needs the subtitles on his telly and he doesn’t feel the need to have a ‘label’’…

I'm sure this is all true and valid.

No one's denying your life is hard.

But I'd dispute the fact that it's as hard as someone's whose autism means they can't live independently.

Which is my whole point. There are degrees.

Also, 'you don't know what you're talking about' is what people always say on these threads, but no one's said a single thing that actually contradicts my original point.

Exactly. If it wasn't normal to feel that way, humans wouldn't bother doing anything neatly or orderly. It's why the dewey decimal system exists, why we have things in alphabetical order etc.

Terrible example.

Of course you can be a little bit deaf. You probably wouldn't whinge about it to someone who was profoundly deaf but you can still be it.

A lot of people do use terms incorrectly (particularly when it comes to things like OCD) but on the whole, yes, most neurodiversity is on a spectrum that we're all on.

Asking again. Are you autistic? Speaking over someone's lived experience is so incredibly offensive just because they don't present like somebody else's autistic child. People like you and opinions like this are so ableist and why society can be so disabling.

But I'd dispute the fact that it's as hard as someone's whose autism means they can't live independently.

I am playing devil’s advocate here slightly, but…

from the perspective of the autistic person themselves (rather than the parent / carer), if someone can’t live independently but is having all their needs taken care of and they don’t have to worry about that, is that actually harder FOR THEM than someone who allegedly can, but actually doesn’t cope with everything they need to do?

I think high need and low need are much more intrinsic ways of describing people.

Yes absolutely this.. people seem to think that the spectrum is a human spectrum. My sister drives me mad saying "Ah sure we're all on the spectrum" No we are not! Only those with ASD/ADHD are on the spectrum

It's a spectrum but not everyone can be
on the spectrum

So you can be on the milder end of the spectrum

I said registered blind/deaf, not a bit hard of hearing.

But fine, what about Downs Syndrome? Would you say someone with the mosaic variant had a lesser Downs syndrome than other variants? Again, do you actually know what autism is?

This!

But some people struggle when things aren't about them so they try to relate to a condition like ASD by saying I'm a little bit like this too or we're all on the spectrum. We're not and if your little bit of whatever you think ASD is isn't impacting your life in anyway then you're really not being helpful you are actually just minimising.

With OCD, there is a spectrum once the diagnostic threshold is hit, from relatively mild to severe, and there is spectrum below that threshold too. You do have people, that wouldn’t fit the criteria for diagnosis, that demonstrate traits of it to a greater or lesser degree (and people that demonstrate none).

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/transdiagnostic-approach-to-obsessions-compulsions-and-related-phenomena/subdiagnostic-obsessivecompulsive-symptoms/EC3DBD22501F62F6DA3DC5FBC4FF6C95

Ah I see you're just an arsehole. Sorry I wasted my time with you and your shitty thread. Have the day you deserve.

No definitely not. You are either an alcoholic or you're not.. as another poster said, being an alcoholic isn't about how much or how often you drink. It's the effect your drinking has on your mind and body. Someone who can't not drink. Is obsessed with having a drink can't function until they've had that drink is an alcoholic. I'm a recovering alcoholic

That every neurodivergent person is on. If you’re not ND then the autism spectrum doesn’t apply to you. Because it’s not a line from ‘very bad autism < perfectly typical and functional human’, that’s not what ‘the spectrum’ is.

Appreciate what you are trying to say.

There aren't any 'ends' though as it's not linear.

This is more like what the Autism 'spectrum' looks like. With different people scoring at varying degrees on each particular aspect of difficulty.

This article will help people understand what is meant by a spectrum as it really isn’t what a lot of people think.
https://neuroclastic.com/its-a-spectrum-doesnt-mean-what-you-think/?fbclid=IwAR0gG3k7DeljdKDzwvP-hvKOmSpm0ubogaxDwSyCxi9z4sIadTnqiTZF9d0_aem_AU__Z8p_eBmtohFqz2OkUSMPLwcbwUePYijTwc0Fn2tOOokP-wy5HtmOU-neRyZnsVDTGoC3YtWmcxVQikKUeJyg

Oh dear another person talking about ‘the spectrum’ with a huge amount of ignorance. Just another day on MN I guess.

I’d be uncomfortable with those three things. I don’t have intrusive thoughts around these things though. It’s like having a stone in your shoe, an irritant.

That's not OCD though, that's liking order.

OCD is an impending feeling of doom if things are out of order, a fear that something bad is going to happen. The obsessive nature would be going to check the boxset multiple times a day to make sure the books are facing the right way, even when it was checked 5 minutes earlier and no-one has been close to the books.

I prefer order. My knickers are folded in a particular way, and lined up in the drawer in colour order. If my ex husband had put them away, I'd take them out and redo them. That's not "a bit OCD", it's me having a strong preference for a particular system. Nothing bad will happen if my underwear is just chucked randomly into a drawer. I won't think the world is ending, I won't have a panic attack. I just prefer things my way.

My daughter is autistic. We share many similar traits but I do not struggle in the same way she does. I don't call myself "a bit autistic", because I'm not.