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carbon_based Sep 17, 2023

I shall leave my own impression from the articles i read in the past days, in the direction of de-pathologisation.

It finally got me to know some about the “expert” criteria and method of assessment, and it’s just as i imagined. Luckily, i’m not alone in seeing that not only as clearly failing the clients and professionalism just the same, but in seeing the process of pathologising in itself as potentially harmful. The beliefs we surround ourselves become all too easily our absolute reality. I’ve been in a self-assessment process for years. That being completely disregarded just to get officialy labeled “dysfunctional”, can only be wholeheartedly rejected.
Quote from the DSM-5 article: “All of the following should be understood as a speculative story from a dominant cultural group about a minority cultural group presented with deep bias and without any attempt to understand how that minority cultural group perceives their differences.” – Thanks.
I’ll have to make a better distinction between “autism” and “neurodiversity”. That will serve to make peace with all those who take benefit from the dysfunctional label. It will also enable me to be in peace with the paradigm of this forum, that certainty about being autistic would require said pathologising assessment.
That said, i can identify with how people like Janae Elisabeth describe nerodiversity in such a way that it makes me fairly confident in describing myself as neurodivergent. There may be a great variability in traits and their strenghts from person to person, and i might fall on the lower end. One guy with an “Asperger’s” diagnosis once told me that he’d think i was “more autistic than he is”. Well, who cares.
… But i care! I’m still not sure what to call my mental states which i formerly called “autistic”. I learned that it might just be something which also appears in autism – an active form of shutdown. I can actually use such a state to shut out all external influence, so that i can concentrate on one thing without my mind getting into useless chatter because of the distractions from whatever spirit enters my field. – It might otoh be a trauma avoidance reaction when it’s difficult to get out of it.

carbon_based Sep 16, 2023

[Helpful Resource] Lost in Translation: The Social Language Theory of Neurodivergence (Part 1 and 2)

https://sh.itjust.works/post/5239148

[Helpful Resource] Lost in Translation: The Social Language Theory of Neurodivergence (Part 1 and 2) - sh.itjust.works

Work in progress, give me a moment! A de-pathologising and enabling explanation of typical neurodivergent perception and expression culture. By Janae Elisabeth, a researcher-storyteller and neurodiversity advocate from western North Carolina. In part 1, Janae lists the most defining differences in communication and culture, in the sibling form of “we”. ##### Headlines: Processing differences cause us to speak different social languages / Emotions / Empathy / Nonverbal Communication and Body Cues / Words Mean Things / Social Rules / A Different Value System / Skills and Abilities / Reactions to Stress, Pain, and Overwhelm #### Part 2: Link: Lost in Translation: The Social Language Theory of Neurodivergence (part 2 of 2) [https://autietraumageek.medium.com/lost-in-translation-the-social-language-theory-of-neurodivergence-part-2-of-2-7339cb5df478] In part 2, Janae writes about the impact of the invalidation done by a pathologising clinical approach, the mistreatment following the misunderstanding, and ways in which neurodivergence can be supported, accepted, and embraced. ##### Quote: >The med/psych system is losing or failing most neurodivergent people. This is the most common theme I am hearing from patients, parents, teachers, and therapists alike. And it’s not just that we are “falling through the cracks” in the system or being neglected, though those are valid concerns. The bigger concern is that the med/psych system is actively harming many neurodivergent people by forcing cultural assimilation. >[…] >A study in 2019 found that psychiatric diagnosis is scientifically meaningless because there is too much subjectivity in diagnosis and not enough understanding of trauma. And when we look beyond simple accuracy and also consider impact, the failure of diagnostic labels becomes clear. Diagnostic labels as they are currently given are worse than useless, they are all too frequently harmful. (emphasis by me) ##### Headlines: While speaking different languages makes relationships difficult, invalidation makes relationships impossible / Self-image, depression, and shutdown / Social rejection, abuse, and PTSD / Mistreatment, re-traumatization, and forced treatment / The neurodiversity paradigm recognizes our different languages and seeks to understand miscommunications instead of pathologizing them. Here are 7 key ways that neurodivergence can be supported, accepted, and embraced — The two rather concise blog articles are suitable to hand to people who may ask (or may not have asked) what this neurodiversity thing is actually about. #### Further reading: The paper mentioned in the above quote is available for download as PDF when you search the internet for the title “Heterogeneity in psychiatric diagnostic classification” +PDF. It’s interesting for understanding how non-scientific the standard psychiatric assessment actually is. In another entry, Janae talks about how the DSM-5 criteria fail. Direct link: A Neurodiversity Paradigm Breakdown of the DSM-5 Criteria for Autism [https://autietraumageek.medium.com/a-neurodiversity-paradigm-breakdown-of-the-dsm-criteria-for-autism-bb524291298b] … or if you prefer an informed eye-roll done by Yo Samdy Sam on y-tube: Autism diagnosis criteria: explained (DSM-5) [https://youtube.com/watch?v=1yva4RZW_s0].

carbon_based Jul 11, 2023

Sometimes, more often than not, a thing kicks off a daydream which takes my time. In order to get it out of my mind, it may help to write it down. Here is one.

https://sh.itjust.works/post/988447

Sometimes, more often than not, a thing kicks off a daydream which takes my time. In order to get it out of my mind, it may help to write it down. Here is one. - sh.itjust.works

So while scrolling Lemmy today, i came across this story of a recent excavation at the site of the buried ancient city of Pompeii. A painting on the wall in a house that had an adjacent bakery appears to depict what could be called an ancestor of a nowadays ubiquitous delicacy. Link to an article is below but i put the short story first so that i don’t spoil it. ;-D No idea if it is good storytelling or anything, but why not just put here this crafted-for-an-afternoon piece. ##### PANIS VELOX PRANDIVM* The baker boy had come to wake up Octavius Picus from his afternoon nap. The delegation from the market at Nuceria had already arrived. They were early. Three people, the boy said, an elderly man with bad eyesight and a young woman guiding him, and another man who was carrying some scrolls. They could be heared chatting with Octavius’ wife Marcella in the atrium. – No hurry. He sat up on the bedside and rubbed his eyes. The landlords around Nuceria had recently founded a cooperative and had now come to bargain a new deal for their grain. He wouldn’t really know what to make of it, especially since his plan of opening a taberna next to the bakery would certainly require him to buy more wheat and he also wanted to have their beer. Would all that make it more expensive or less? – It was Marcella’s idea after all, to offer quickly baked meals that would be affordable not only for the wealthy summer guests. Anyway, the painter was already done with decorating the walls in the atrium, so why not just give them a taste of the novel idea. Alright, let’s serve them something, he told the boy. Make us five of the speciality quick plates, with sausage, eggs and sweet wine … but not the most expensive one. And do not forget to put the basilicum and cheese sauce on the panem piccum! ::: spoiler Here is the link (spoiler) (*) panis velox prandium: “bread for a quick lunch” (the best i can come up with for “fast food” using an online translator) :-) Does This Pompeii Painting Depict a 2,000-Year-Old Pizza? [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pompeii-fresco-pizza-180982446/] Original thread: https://lemmy.world/post/1334869 [https://lemmy.world/post/1334869] :::