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

[MauveOrca]

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?

Nope don’t want it redefined I simply want it recognised for what it is- a catch all phrase, not a diagnosis,something professionals don’t actually use and a title which isn’t on anybody’s medical records. A phrase being used to dismiss individual diagnoses particularly autism and adhd.

And no it is not a medical term.

I would totally agree with this. My daughter is ADHD and I suspect I am autistic. I have never fitted into any workplace culture, uni or school that are all set up for NT people.

This.

People’s neurodivergence has been ignored for so long.

I really dislike it when people complain about the newfound awareness of these conditions. What it smacks of is “when you are used to privilege, equality looks like oppression”.

In other words, people have got used to, and enjoyed, at least having an advantage in life over neurodivergent people. Socially, educationally and in many other ways. I’m sorry you can no longer look down on ND people and call them “weird” or “a misfit”, but these people are here to stay.

(that’s not aimed at the person I quoted, obviously, it’s aimed at those she’s arguing against!)

I don't think those labels are used too casually.

My son, who is 4 years and 10 months old, is undergoing private assessment for autism at the moment.

It sets us back 1900 pounds, but he has significant issues at school and the headteacher referred to him as "the most extreme child I met in the last 30 years of his career".

We would prefer not to pay 1900 pounds for private assessment.

In a world where enough support would be available for our son a diagnosis wouldn't be needed.

In a world where our son is called "extreme" and his needs aren't being met, a diagnosis is very much needed.

Society has changed and, I think, become more intolerant of diversity, despite awareness being wider than ever. I have a male relative who had the same job for over 30 years. He was almost certainly Autistic and highly dyslexic (of a generation where assessment wasn't widespread). He would do things his way. He would disregard instructions. He would deliberately leave his radio in the office so he couldn't be contacted by his team. He did not work well in a team. But they managed him by making his job very specific and defined, limiting the necessity of team work. Nowadays, he would have been managed out.

The thing with 'labels' is that they only serve to capture a set of traits that can be grouped to describe the challenges that the 'labelled' have in common. The traits are still there, whether or not the label is applied.

Sometimes a lot of resources need to be allocated in the short term to save the country more money in the long term. DD2 & DD3 go to a special school that costs thousands of pounds per year. Hopefully, it will prepare them to be productive members of society and avoid a life out of work because of their disabilities.

This makes me so sad to read.
I feel it is so selfish of people to abuse this diagnosis when there are families and individuals that genuinely need the support and yet others are deliberately clogging up the system

Complete rubbish on so many levels. You are screened before you get on an NHS waiting list and there is no support.

No need to be so rude....
I'm speaking from personal experience so it isn't 'complete rubbish'

Nobody is clogging up the system. That's a load of shit that people say to gatekeep and exclude others because they don't think they're as worthy as their own child - based on absolutely no evidence.

Hmm no you aren’t speaking from personal experience as nobody can “clog up” waiting lists unless they deserve to be on them because you are screened before getting on them. There is also no support to be more deserving of either.

At this point, it isn’t a disability anymore unless you’re learning disabled with it. It’s a variation of the human condition.

Autism is a protected disability

Has the Autism Act been revoked?

purely from a numbers perspective, so far 26% voted against your opinion which happens to line up pretty closely with the 15–20% of the UK estimated to be neurodivergent.
So if most of the agreement came from neurotypical voices, the split actually reflects that divide quite neatly.

I don’t think it will be for long.

@calamin why is that?

Of course it’s ok to use variations for quirks or preferences but for real issues people need proper diagnosis and qualified support.
I don’t know if you are a troll or a journalist or a lucky person who never tried to fight practically the whole world trying to fit in as ND people do but I bet you won’t call asthma “a bit of coughing” so don’t dismiss serious issues other people have.

YANBU. It's a silly, unscientific term, pretty meaningless when you come down to it.

No, it does have meaning it is just a very broad umbrella term. It’s like the term “disabled” itself. You can say disabled and mean diabetes, mental illness, amputee - literally an endless list of possibilities. It doesn’t mean the term is meaningless. It has a place but it isn’t specific enough in most contexts. ND is the same. It could equally mean dyslexia or Down’s syndrome.

Being neurodivergent (ND) or neurotypical (NT) has nothing to do with personality types and traits. I hope I've misunderstood you, but if a lot of people think that's what ND is then no wonder there's cynicism about it.

FWIW, this is what I understand by the term ND: Areas of the brain are damaged or at least physically different to the typical brain, causing differences in motor skills, cognition and/or behaviour.

Well going off these charts I think almost everyone of us is ND myself included. Pretty much everyone I know has atleast one of these conditions.

I don't think of mental illness or personality disorders as ND conditions (I know you're not saying they are).

Only around 3 in 10 working age autistic people are in employment, compared with around 5 in 10 for all disabled people and 8 in 10 for non-disabled people. Please tell me how we are not disabled? BTW, about 30% of people with autism also have a learning disability.

I agree that autism is a variation of the human condition but surely all disabilities are.

Edit: meant to add this link The Buckland Review of Autism Employment: report and recommendations - GOV.UK

Complete rubbish and scaremongering to boot. It’s a protected disability for good reason.

Interventions to protect autistic people such as Stomp, dynamic risk register, CETRs,hospital pass ports, reasonable adjustments,protection etc are crucial for autistic people who can be hugely vulnerable. They need protection in order to not be over medicated, to not be subject to bullying which alarming numbers are, to keep out of inpatient, to access work/ education and access the right medical treatment.

The definition of autism as a protected disability won’t be going anywhere.