I have several disorders which are located inside of the brain (which obviously includes autism, hence me posting here). I dislike calling myself “neurodivergent” for many reasons. For one, people use this term as a replacement word for autism, and I have many conditions besides autism.
For example, I’ll see posts saying, “neurodivergent people sre more likely to do XYZ.” There are so many disorders which fall under the neurodivergent umbrella that it isn’t humanly possible for neurodivergent people to be more likely to say or do something than other folks; just say autistic in this context.
I also find that my personal experience gets watered down by calling myself neurodivergent; it feels like a modern version of being called special. I have several conditions which fall under different categories; psychiatric, neurological, and neurodevelopmental. To call all of that just neurodivergent is not very specific and doesn’t tell a person what my needs are (plus, they’ll just assume I’m autistic).
Aah so you’re upset that you’re not called “extra special”, got it.
A person with cancer has an illness. Someone with autism is neurodivergent. Just how words work. Some are specific and others are broader. Water is a liquid. But not all liquids are water. Spaghetti is pasta, but not all pasta is spaghetti. Autism is part of neurodivergence, but not all neurodivergence is autism.
Also neurodevelopmental issues are part of neurology. Listing those two side by side is like saying “today I drank liquids, then I drank water, then I had pasta and some spaghetti.”
I prefer to be called disabled or neurodisabled, rather than neurodivergent. “Neurodivergent” doesn’t actually communicate jack shit because there are so many people who say they aren’t disabled but identify as neurodivergent. Also, like I said, people will also just assume I’m autistic, which isn’t what I want.
While my autism sucks, it isn’t my most severe condition. Nobody really cares about the neurodivergent movement if autism isn’t the main character in absolutely everything. Sometimes, it feels like my autism is all anybody really cares about.
If I show symptoms of my other conditions, I’m suddenly “too much.”
Neurodisabled would be a different category all together. Many forms of neurodivergency aren’t disabilities, or aren’t always disabilities. Autism is one of these. It can be a disability, but it’s a broad enough spectrum that sometimes it isn’t a disability.
It’s a disorder. A disordered thing isn’t necessarily disabled. OP is too neurodisabled to see categories properly I’m afraid.
And that’s me using the word OP literally asked people to use, before a mod removes this comment as well. Even though that’s not actually a medical term even 1% as common as neurodivergence, which OP says is “not even a medical term”.
It’s literally the title of a medical journal. Saying it is not a medical term is like saying “acceleration” isn’t a term physicists use.
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I like more specific terms instead of vague terms is my thing. Spaghetti isn’t nearly as vague as neurodivergent is. There’s also a lot of debate about what conditions even count as neurodivergent. I’ve seen someone argue that having a perfect memory is neurodivergent by itself, which tells me how very vague this term is.
It isn’t about being special; it’s about having accurate language that isn’t dreadfully vague. I’ve met other people who’ve run into similar issues as me. Saying that I’m neurodivergent would be like saying, “I’m eating dough tonight,” and it’s actually a plate of lasagna. That’s how vague this term is. Pasta is technically dough, but no one will know what the hell you mean if you tell somebody that you’re eating dough.
“I can promise you I have more illnesses, both mental and physical than you,” you sound like the one making this a “special” competition now. You’re also very aggressive, which isn’t helping your argument at all. Not once have I called you any names, yet you insist on resorting to name-calling a stranger.
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Yes, I do understand what the word “insist” means. You literally did insist on insulting me. Plus, insisting that you have more illnesses than I do without knowing my story is very much one-upping someone and trying to make yourself seem seem extra special.
I get that English isn’t your first language, but it is a normal thing to say, “You insist on doing XYZ” after you’ve done XYZ. You’re continuing to insult me, which only concludes my point that you insist on insulting me. This is literally part of normal English grammar, but I’ll give you a pass since it isn’t your first language.
“And I’d win.” You’re proving my point. You lose all credibility when you one-up someone in an argument. Sorry, you automatically lose when you one-up someone.
Also, “neurodivergent” isn’t even a real medical term. Literally anyone and their grandma could identify as neurodivergent be there is no set medical usage for it. This term was literally only invented in the 1990s by an autism activist. You know that, right? It wasn’t some professional doctor who diagnoses autism who created this term.
In terms of cars, you could technically say,
“I’m using a metallic machine,” and still be technically correct. So really, my point isn’t proven wrong about vagueness.
There are also multiple types of neurological conditions; neurodevelopmental conditions are neurological, but not all neurological conditions are neurodevelopmental. What you are doing is the equivalent of telling someone that it’s wrong to mention both squares and rectangles in the same sentence, when not all rectangles are squares.
I really think you should learn a bit more English before correcting someone else’s.
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You also used the wrong form of the word “you’re.” I have a neurological condition that isn’t neurodevelopmental, therefore mentioning both neurodevelopmental and neurological conditions in the same sentence makes perfect sense. I thought you would’ve understood the hint by now, but apparently not.
Again, using the word “insist” the way I did was correct. English isn’t your first language, yet you refuse to understand when a native English speaker is informing you of a clear language barrier. Here’s an example provided by a dictionary website,
“Why did he insist on showing up when she was alone?”
Another one would be,
“Do you want to go to the store?”
“If you insist.”
Or why did you insist on directly insulting me when I hadn’t done so to you? The way I used this word is very similar to these examples.
“I know you’re so neurodisabled that language doesn’t come easily to you.” Whoopsie daises, that’s extremely ableist of you. You’re going for extremely low blows when I’m objectively just criticising the things you’ve written. First, you call me stupid, and now you’re basically politely calling me rtrded. Nice to know how much you actually support disabled people.
Sure, it’s a term used in medical journals, but that doesn’t make it a diagnostic term. When I say medical, I mean in a diagnostic sense. The point of going to a hospital for most cases is for receiving medical care, which mostly consists of receiving medical diagnoses beforehand. Absolutely zero diagnoses require the usage of the word “neurodivergent” in their symptoms. It’s an entirely optional word and I’ve never heard someone use that word when giving me any of my diagnoses.
Yeah, yeah, coined vs created. You literally coin words by creating a new term based on old prefixes, roots, and suffixes. To say that a word is created is still accurate because you’re still creating a term that never previously existed by mashing prefixes, roots, and suffixes together.
This brings me to another point; people sometimes use the word “neurodivergent” as a dogwhistle. It has been sometimes used to indicate that someone is “one of the good ones” and not like those “disabled guys.” I’ve seen people use it in a similar manner to how people use the word “Asperger’s.”
If you qualify for a diagnosis that is categorised as a disability, you are disabled. Autism and ADHD, are by definition, disabling. People forget that it’s possible to be mildly disabled.
Just like when you said “neurological and neurodevelopmental are different categories” you’re making rhe same mistake again. “Disorder” is not synonymous with “DISABILITY”.
That is ableist as fuck not to mention disgustingly wrong
So when you make a mistake people arr still supposed to mind read around it?
You made a mistake. You are literally unable to Admit to it.
Honestly that’s one confusing as fuck explanation that’s pure avoidance. Just try uttering “I was wrong” it’s really not that hard.
But no, crying to mods because people agreed with me and my comments about how wrong you are.
You’re confusing disorder and disability.
Not to mention using grammar wrong and then getting upset when someone points out how wrong you are.
I did not in any way insist on insulting you. You project that because youre insecure and I pointed out that you’re using words wrong and making mistakes which amount to the same thing as “spaghetti and pasta are different categories.”
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