Autism

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

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 like saying I'm genuinely veracious, with a pervasive demand for autonomy, a scatterbrained thinker, idealistc, poly-perspectivistic, ambivert/introvert, intuitive, perceptive... and loads of other descriptors from other perspectives and paradigms more yet.

Affirms the "diversity" normal reality, the variety we each have, without so much of the othering of being "divergent".

"neurotype".

It's better, but still not an ideal fit, in being "types", as if there there are category buckets where it's all the same in each bucket.

At least gets away from the subtextually implied "there is a normal [correct right way] and you are not it", like "neurodivergent" does.

The thing is, our brain is the most complex thing of the human body.

People often prefer to use the "neurodivergent" word because you might have way more things than just autism, you might even have some undocumented disorders, it's just hard to be specific when come to this.

It's like trying to give a unique name to a mix of vegetables and etc... So people just came up with the world "salad".

I personally prefer neurodivergent because I admit, not even myself, and maybe not even an specialist would be able to diagnose everything that happens in my brain. But we all know it must be something related to neurons.

I don't call myself neurodivergent, but I do call myself a wizard. Everyone else can just deal with that.

I like neurodivergent because it centers the issue that peoples' brains function differently. It's not a choice. It's not stupidity. I'm not just weird for no reason. My brain cells send signals differently from other peoples'. The issue is that regular people don't understand regardless of which word you use.

I get it. I'm not autistic, but I do have a brain tumor and some spinal problems that causes similar symptoms, and people love to get shitty about it. It makes some neurodivergent spaces really hard for me.

I've had to cut "friends" loose because they make "jokes" about how I can't be trusted because we saw what happened with Fetterman.

I've stopped talking to people who insisted that I'm autistic and me denying it means I'm a hateful bigot.

I've stopped talking to people who think I'm cosplaying as autistic, because I could just do chemo and brain surgery and be normal again, and "real" neurodivergencies like theirs can't be cured.

It's lonely.

I'm autistic, mildly dyslexic, ADHD, with a helping of CPTSD. I just refer to myself as a hot mess lol. call yourself whatever you want.

Agree. I also don't like the othering and divisiveness. As if an all encompassing lable can define individual experience. Not that it isn't useful in certain contexts. But once it enters the lexicon, especially online, these defining terms always turn toxic. This goes for neurotypical, too. I see a lot of bigotry surrounding both terms and it seems utterly ridiculous to paint with such a broad brush upon an even broader canvas. 

I can relate, a bit. Personally i dont care nor mind. I always come in from a "im like this" angle, never from a "i have x" angle, which means labels like autism or adhd dont do much for me. I am how i am, and i know how to deal with it to make it easier for me, or others, and if i cant or dont want to and you cant? Thats a you issue, bugger off.

Also, how do you feel about being called neurospicy? :')

The term and idea of neurodivergency originated within the autism community but its not true that its a replacement word for autism as it also includes adhd, ocd, bipolar, dislexia.. Anyone with some atypical neurological configuration.

But i get you, and your case shows why its important that the classical medical terminology stays separate from the neurodivergent ones. The way i see it one has a more socio-cultural purpose, the other an instructive medial one.

Under neurodivergence we who are different celebrate how similar we all actually are in contrast to the dominant neurotypical masses, it does not differ between our actual challenges on purpose and it can be a great way to explain ourselves to neurotypicals without having to go into the details of the diagnostic labels they may not understand or only know bias about. So in may ways it is a “i am different/special” label used in a positive “but that shouldn’t matter” kind of way.

When the context is about getting the right help, the term does nothing. But what does carry weight are the right diagnostic criteria which professionals help has experience with and knows what set of tools are relevant.

It is known that technically speaking, adhd is part of the autism spectrum, but the good reason on why its kept distinct is because giving people with mild adhd the same access to help as an autism diagnosis might get you would exhaust the system and make it harder for those on the spectrum with severe challenges to find any help at all.

Yeah, it's just the best word I have currently, but it really is a big catch-all for a lot of disabilities/conditions. Neurodiverse is a little better as it doesn't necessarily specify that some state of being is more "normal" and we diverge from that "normal". But it's not any more accurate really and not a medical term. Even Autism and ADHD are both catch-alls for several conditions and aren't very specific at all. Just not good terminology that isn't a stand-in for "defective" or steeped in Nazi blood like "Asperger's Syndrome".

I prefer calling myself a mutant. Like, as in an x-man. 😤

My psychologist suggested nerodiverse with characteristics of autism.