this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2023
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neurodivergence is not a thing afaik.
we are different from others just as how everyone is different from each other (unless we have some exceptional adhd).
I have adhd, it's hard. Many people who don't have adhd also struggle from various issues (depression, anxiety, OCD).
very few people are "sorted" with playing life in easy mode.
these memes may make us feel special but I find it silly.
It's not a thing in the sense of it being some innate part of the universe. But it's very real in the sense of societal expectations. It's all our natural differences, but Neurotypical is just the acceptable amount of difference that society is built around and caters to. If you fall outside of that you're neurodivergent. Of course people aren't sorted into playing life on easy mode; their level of difference simply naturally falls in that acceptable range. They don't have to think about it like someone else might because it just comes naturally to them. It's considered a disability because everyone is expected to operate inside of that acceptable range and if you can't then you're broken according to society.
the people who fall outside of the "normal" - those who cannot go about their life (not just meet societal expectations) without medication are very rare (imho).
rest of us have various issues - one of them is ADHD.
neurodivergence has no meaning - if you care about people and spend time learning about them you will see that everyone is peculiar and have issues just like you (making them also neurodivergent).
it's bit "not like other girls" .
it really isn't, but what you're doing is a lot "I don't see colour".
Ignoring the fact that some of us struggle more than others because society wasn't designed for those with brains and/or bodies like ours doesn't just magically make those struggles go away, it just makes you more comfortable and gives you an excuse to dismiss others' difficulties.
Saying "everyone is a little neurodiverse" is saying no one is, and saying no one is, is ableism.
https://wid.org/how-to-be-a-good-ally-to-disabled-people/
calling yourself disabled because you have some amount to adhd is an insult to people with disabilities ( hearing, sight etc).
pretty sure calling out that neurodivergence is not a scientific concept doesnt make me an ableist.
Except neurodivergence is a scientific concept. It's been being studied and discussed in the social sciences for like 20 years now. And unironically implying that someone isn't disabled because you can't see their disability is in fact ableist. My son literally gets services from the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities for his ADHD and Autism. He's legally considered disabled. But you would never know he has a disability looking at him.
care to show me some references claiming the scientific validity of calling some people neurotypical and some others not?
i was mainly talking about ADHD not autism.
I am not saying that there are no invisible disabilities. people might be suffering from issues for which they need help. People have to treated with care and compassion they require. one doesn't have to go into pseudo scientific neurodivergence/typical ideas - which implies the existence of two kinds of people (typical and divergent) to understand that.
stand by my claim that having a bit of ADHD doesn't make you disabled.
Neurodivergence is more a sociopolitical movement where scientific facts are but one relevant factor. The problem is working with a relatively reductive view of disability and neurodivergence as two binaries. Either you are or you aren't. The reality is more a layering of multiple spectra of diffrerent qualities/tensions. ADHD involves some of these qualities/tensions differently than autism, but it's a useful category. A first step to understanding this is looking at neurodivergence in context of the social model of disability:
https://www.disabilitywales.org/neurodiversity-and-the-social-model-of-disability/
I also saw this interesting article looking at the risks/limitations of the social model of disability for neurodivergence. It's an opinion, but a nuanced one.
https://www.autisticscholar.com/social-model-neurodiversity/
The internet over-romanticization of (not only) ADHD has to stop. It is stupid and I believe causes more harm than good.
I have a hard time with this sentiment. Without stupid ADHD memes starting to gain traction a few years ago, I'd probably either be dead via suicide or struggling badly with my "Anxiety that doesn't respond to treatment" and a nice dose of depression as well. Before the memes my perception of ADHD was waaaaaaaay off, I dumped hours into research because some memes hit too close to home (possibly hyperfocusing funny enough lol) and I think it's managed to have this more accurate public image because of internet bullshittery.
But as always, the internet takes "too much of a good thing" to it's extremes and the more and more I see people discussing it, the more I also see shit that just isn't true or is an ADHDer saying "teehee how quirky" while using a weird description of everyone's everyday behavior. We've already seen a lot of that with autism imo.
Sure. I can't disagree with you. Of course I understand it has helped people and this is valueable. What I'm talking about is an over-romanticization of some aspects especially for example the "hyperfocus", like come on people, you're not super heroes because you managed once per month to finally focus on something. However this creates a sense of belonging somewhere which can be helpful, but also intersting to question on what base is this made at