izzy Apr 19, 2020

I wish it was more normal to just identify as neurodivergent/ neuroatypical

I like to think of neurodiversity the same way I think of orientation and gender.

Some people identify as bi (great), some people identify as biquoiromantic pandemisexual (good), some people just identify as queer. Queer can be used as an umbrella term that includes the first two, but it can also be a standalone identity

The same is somewhat true for neurodiversity, but it's a lot less common;
Some people identify as autistic (great), some people idetify as aspie with medium support needs (good), some people just identify as neurodivergent. Neurodivergent can be used as an umbrella term that includes the first two, but it can also be a standalone identity

(The terms here are examples - "autistic" can be replaced with any neurotype, "bi" can be replaced with any orientation or gender etc)...

Show threadizzy Apr 19, 2020

...What I'm saying is I want neurodivergent symbolism and neurodivergent tags and a more united neurodiversity movement. And i wanna call myself "neuroatypical" without having to explain in what way I'm not neurotypical. Because - just like orientation and gender - the lines between neurotypes are blurry asf.

But yet there's no wider "neurodivergent"-community. Neurodivergent people who don't call themselves "autistic" are discouraged (best case scenario) from using the infinity symbol or terms like "special interest"

And like...that completely ignores the blurry lines between different neurotypes. Someone might have a ton of autistic traits, including special interests, but don't meet the specific criteria of ASD (and may be diagnosed with unspecified neurodevelopmental disorder or something else instead)
There are people who met the diagnostic criteria that existed 30 years ago, but don't meet the ASD one (or the other way around)...

Show threadizzy 

...Now, in general, I believe that most of the autistic community would be perfectly accepting of those people calling themselves "autistic". But why is that necessary? Why can't I just call myself neurodivergent and have that be enough?

#ActuallyAutistic #ActuallyADHD

But in another universe I'm just tagging this #ActuallyNeurodivergent #ActuallyNeuroatypical or just #Neurodivergent #Neuroatypical

Apr 19, 2020 at 10:38amWeb