Neurodivergence/Disability Discussion Thread

[-Dragonland]

Hey y'all, I'm an autistic person who was searching for a thread dedicated to neurodivergence and disability and couldn't find one, so I decided to create one. I feel like this is important because I've noticed several ND/disabled people on NS, and other groups and communities on the forum have their own threads, like the trans thread or the Christian thread. We are often an underrepresented group in political spheres and I'd like to see some more representation on NS and in mainstream spaces too. As always, please keep things civil, abide by the rules and stay safe. (PS here is a link to a list of tone tags if needed.)

[High Earth]

Hey y'all, I'm an autistic person who was searching for a thread dedicated to neurodivergence and disability and couldn't find one, so I decided to create one. I feel like this is important because I've noticed several ND/disabled people on NS, and other groups and communities on the forum have their own threads, like the trans thread or the Christian thread. We are often an underrepresented group in political spheres and I'd like to see some more representation on NS and in mainstream spaces too. As always, please keep things civil, abide by the rules and stay safe. (PS here is a link to a list of tone tags if needed.)

I mean, I’m autistic, but I’m not sure I would consider myself disabled. As they say, if you have met one autistic, you have met one autistic.

[The Zion Order]

Does my ADHD Count?
Personally, I believe that since all humans were created for and by God, disabilities are not-important (not that way, I meant that people shouldn't discriminate against disabled people, because everyone was created equally and is loved equally by God)

[Uiiop]

This is the eighth thread on neurodivergence. We have become exceedingly proficient at it.

[-Dragonland]

Does my ADHD Count?

Yes, as it's a type of neurodivergence

Hey y'all, I'm an autistic person who was searching for a thread dedicated to neurodivergence and disability and couldn't find one, so I decided to create one. I feel like this is important because I've noticed several ND/disabled people on NS, and other groups and communities on the forum have their own threads, like the trans thread or the Christian thread. We are often an underrepresented group in political spheres and I'd like to see some more representation on NS and in mainstream spaces too. As always, please keep things civil, abide by the rules and stay safe. (PS here is a link to a list of tone tags if needed.)

I mean, I’m autistic, but I’m not sure I would consider myself disabled. As they say, if you have met one autistic, you have met one autistic.

This thread is for both non-disability neurodivergence and disability in general or when they overlap, I do consider myself disabled because I still need accommodations and I was also born with a clubfoot and had to wear a brace and do occupational therapy as a young child and I also had surgery for it as a baby

[Emotional Support Crocodile]

I recently self-administered the AQ and RMET at the ripe old age of 62. I've suspected for a while I might have some traits, but my scores (44 out of 50 for the AQ, and 23 out of 36 for RMET) were rather more squarely on the spectrum than I expected. It rather shook me up, to be honest this is the first time I've mentioned it to anyone, I've not told friends or family. I'm not thinking of going for a proper diagnosis, I'm not in education (though there was no help anyway for this when I was at school and university) and I no longer work, so I don't really see any point.

[Dumb Ideologies]

I'm dyspraxic which apparently counts. Not particularly clumsy. More I just get overloaded by complicated instructions and people expecting me to do multiple things simultaneously. Tends to cause problems particularly at work because there's a very fine line where I go from doing stuff to a high standard to bizarre critical fails and that's hard to explain to normies.

[Gaybeans]

I'm kinda a borderline case...and not just cause my official diagnosis is borderline personality disorder, lol. I have a fair amount of autistic traits and it's been brought up before that I might be autistic. Psychiatric didn't want to get me tested though since they don't want me to get hung up on labels?? Which, given you've already given me a permanent diagnosis, seems a bit misguided.

[Tinhampton]

Neurodivergence/Disability Discussion Thread

One of my recent pet peeves in language is the recent shift from "neurodiverse" to "neurodivergent" - it's recent by definition because I only started noticing around 2021/22. Neurodiverse implies that our minds work differently from other people and that should be respected. Neurodivergent implies that our minds are not normal. Which word sounds more inclusive?

We are often an underrepresented group in political spheres

I can think of exactly one politician with autism - Jessica Benham (Pennsylvania HD 36; Democrat).

[Haganham]

Neurodivergence/Disability Discussion Thread

One of my recent pet peeves in language is the recent shift from "neurodiverse" to "neurodivergent" - it's recent by definition because I only started noticing around 2021/22. Neurodiverse implies that our minds work differently from other people and that should be respected. Neurodivergent implies that our minds are not normal. Which word sounds more inclusive?

Ultimately meaningless distinction.
Both are far better then disability/disorder.

[The Xenopolis Confederation]

Good morning my fellow neurodivergents.

I was diagnosed with autism at a very young age. I could barely speak until I was 5. All of the doctors say that I have "high functioning autism" which means that theoretically I should be in a decent spot, and autism activists all profusely insist that high functioning autism is simply a side-grade just as capable as neurotypicals are. And maybe they're right, but holy crap does it ever feel debilitating.

It's like there's a constant subtle disconnect between my perception of reality/myself, versus my actual reality/self. Like I'm in a drunken stupor and every word I say seems perfectly normal in my head, but when it leaves my mouth, the stench of neurodivergence always follows. My every movement clumsy or graceless or lumbering and I've got no idea how to fix it. It's like a constant slight disassociation between mind and environment. I can't even explain it. Maybe everyone feels that way to an extent, who knows.

Could be worse I suppose. At least I can communicate, albeit clumsily. And that's better than the fate of a lot of autistic people.

[Haganham]

Good morning my fellow neurodivergents.

I was diagnosed with autism at a very young age. I could barely speak until I was 5. All of the doctors say that I have "high functioning autism" which means that theoretically I should be in a decent spot, and autism activists all profusely insist that high functioning autism is simply a side-grade just as capable as neurotypicals are. And maybe they're right, but holy crap does it ever feel debilitating.

My experience is that the debilitating thing isn't your capabilities. It's how people treat you.

[-Dragonland]

Neurodivergence/Disability Discussion Thread

One of my recent pet peeves in language is the recent shift from "neurodiverse" to "neurodivergent" - it's recent by definition because I only started noticing around 2021/22. Neurodiverse implies that our minds work differently from other people and that should be respected. Neurodivergent implies that our minds are not normal. Which word sounds more inclusive?

Neurodivergent because we diverge from the usual type of brain, to me it's the only thing I've heard ND people call themsels, but again neurodiverse isn't harmful and I don't care about what labels you call yourself

I was diagnosed with autism at a very young age. I could barely speak until I was 5. All of the doctors say that I have "high functioning autism" which means that theoretically I should be in a decent spot, and autism activists all profusely insist that high functioning autism is simply a side-grade just as capable as neurotypicals are. And maybe they're right, but holy crap does it ever feel debilitating.

I don't remember even getting diagnosed lol, but I also do have hyperlexia (reading from a young age) and that's all my mother thinks my autism is, so whenever I show any neurodivergent traits I'll usually get punished, or like the time she explained to me what stimming was and I assume that she thinks that it's equivalent to self harm or tics or always very intense. I myself am quite a chatterbox when I'm comfortable, and most of the time I'm just masking, which is probably the reason why when I went for an ADHD test I came back with anxiety and depression. I've read the symptoms and have almost all of them but the psychiatrist said it was just overlapping symptoms of anxiety and depression that showed up after a period of trashy mental health (and feel free to correct me on this if I'm wrong) when I literally don't know if the symptoms showed up before then because I literally can't remember. Neurodivergence isn't the entire part of who I am as a human being and it shouldn't be but boy, is it important.

[Jutsa]

Hi all; Dragonland here told me about this here thread. I'm afraid I myself am not neurodiverse as I don't believe I have autism or ADHD. (Though I'd argue I'm quite plausibly a tad dyslexic and plausibly eccentric ) I do actually have family that either was diagnosed or highly suspected (which, makes sense, genetically) autistic.

But I actually was not going to post here at all, on account of my not really being able to relate and not wanting to talk about family members. So. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What changed my mind, however, was something I watched just this morning. It's a video about autism and some of the quite potential advantages and explanations for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IwZ02DgDrA

I'd be curious what you all think of it; do you believe the video to be truthful or faulted? Do you know of more in-depth science for or against it? (If you don't want to worry about answer then don't xD that's just my inner Forest and personal curiosity shining through.) Either way, I figured the invitation to post here and the desire to share an interesting video collided rather perfectly.

Now to relay this to my fam :3

[Galmat]

Hey y'all, I'm an autistic person who was searching for a thread dedicated to neurodivergence and disability and couldn't find one, so I decided to create one. I feel like this is important because I've noticed several ND/disabled people on NS, and other groups and communities on the forum have their own threads, like the trans thread or the Christian thread. We are often an underrepresented group in political spheres and I'd like to see some more representation on NS and in mainstream spaces too. As always, please keep things civil, abide by the rules and stay safe. (PS here is a link to a list of tone tags if needed.)

Medically diagnosed High function ASD guy here, has anyone else taken the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test before? I have taken it and I got sa relatively decent score that's close to lower end neurotypical. I think it does show that at least in my case, social skills can be learned to a degree, and I agree that over the years have become more open to social interaction through I am still to myself.

[Kalaron]

I recently self-administered the AQ and RMET at the ripe old age of 62. I've suspected for a while I might have some traits, but my scores (44 out of 50 for the AQ, and 23 out of 36 for RMET) were rather more squarely on the spectrum than I expected. It rather shook me up, to be honest this is the first time I've mentioned it to anyone, I've not told friends or family. I'm not thinking of going for a proper diagnosis, I'm not in education (though there was no help anyway for this when I was at school and university) and I no longer work, so I don't really see any point.

Something that always gets me about these tests is that I'm not sure how to separate -or if I should- the tactics I've developed to figure stuff out? Like I've trained myself to be good at talking to people, or to guess their intentions/emotions from their face, or to figure out when it's my turn to speak. There's subtle cues for each one and through hard work I've been able to like...consciously get it?

[Urine Town]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IwZ02DgDrA

I'd be curious what you all think of it; do you believe the video to be truthful or faulted? Do you know of more in-depth science for or against it? (If you don't want to worry about answer then don't xD that's just my inner Forest and personal curiosity shining through.) Either way, I figured the invitation to post here and the desire to share an interesting video collided rather perfectly.

Now to relay this to my fam :3

There are plenty of traits that can’t (and in the case of neurodivergence) shouldn’t be phased out through reproduction. I’m not inclined to believe that autism is inherently genetic since nobody else in my family has been diagnosed. It is simply a neurological condition. And yes, hyperfixation can be an aspect of those who are neurodiverse, myself included. I still have doubts that my own special interests are advantageous in any particular way. I mean, Nationstates.net? How is that helpful

This is the eighth thread on neurodivergence. We have become exceedingly proficient at it.

One could say that creating multiple threads like these is a special interest for all of us

[Valles Marineris Mining co]

I was diagnosed with high functioning autism at a young age, like 6 or 7 maybe. Back then it was called Asperger’s Syndrome but now that name isn’t technically used within medical circles anymore and only really used in contemporary language.

I am dogshit with empathy to the point where I worry that I come off as a psychopath. I suck with social cues, like if I am talking about something often I don’t notice when others lose interest. Sometimes I try to same some things that in my head make perfect sense to me, but when I say them out loud people are confused af, and then it’s like awkward. Half of the time I have trouble paying attention to stuff but when a person is talking about a subject I’m interested in LOCK IN. My sense of humor is fucked beyond belief. Like a joke that might be obvious to some will fly over my head and I often laugh because others are laughing and laughter is kinda contagious so yeah. I often misinterpret people by overanalyzing their tone of voice.

I have told my IRL friends I have autism, pretty much all of them didn’t believe me at first.

In terms of obsessive interests I have a few, and they often shift in priority every so often in a year.

I despise, I mean fucking DESPISE the stupid trend that recently propped up online where people say “Acoustic” as a euphemism for Autistic. Like I’m sorry but I would rather be called a Retard than Acoustic.

My opinions on the neurodiversity movement are kinda complicated. So quick backstory: As a kid my elementary school had complete shit autism support, and pretty much lumped people into 3 disabled support categories:

The Blind, Deaf, etc

Severe mental/intellectual disabilities and Down Syndrome

ADHD, OCD, and Autism of all categories.

So low functioning autistics were often lumped in with high functioning autists. The neurodiversity movement imo fails to represent lower functioning autists and only acknowledges the existence of higher functioning autistics. While I am perfectly fine with treating us like human being, but treating autism as not a disorder can and will be harmful for lower functioning autistics, and Imo it sure feels like a disorder with me lmao.

[The Xenopolis Confederation]

I am dogshit with empathy to the point where I worry that I come off as a psychopath. I suck with social cues, like if I am talking about something often I don’t notice when others lose interest. Sometimes I try to same some things that in my head make perfect sense to me, but when I say them out loud people are confused af, and then it’s like awkward. Half of the time I have trouble paying attention to stuff but when a person is talking about a subject I’m interested in LOCK IN. My sense of humor is fucked beyond belief. Like a joke that might be obvious to some will fly over my head and I often laugh because others are laughing and laughter is kinda contagious so yeah. I often misinterpret people by overanalyzing their tone of voice.

I feel this. I'm a very similar way.

I despise, I mean fucking DESPISE the stupid trend that recently propped up online where people say “Acoustic” as a euphemism for Autistic. Like I’m sorry but I would rather be called a Retard than Acoustic.

I think the trend of saying "acoustic" instead of "autistic" isn't really a euphemism. It's moreso intentional mispronunciation for comedic effect.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

I’ve a loved one who’s neurodivergent. ADHD to be precise. It’s not something I find too hard, as family, because I grew up around them. But they do struggle and not understanding how to best help them is difficult and sad.

[Cannot think of a name]

I'm the one ruining it for everyone. One of the apparently thousands of people who took the opportunity during the pandemic to get my head checked and it came out ADHD. So I'm the reason no one can get Adderrall (though I've been able to get some after Vyvanse dried up...).

Sorry 'bout that.

I go back and forth wanting to talk about it. On one hand, I on some level want to talk about everything. On the other hand, it's the internet and if there's one thing I don't want to add to my burden it's some little shit denying my experience. And for some reason I view all my acquaintances rolling their eyes if I say I have ADHD instead of going, "Well...yeah."

I like people having a sense of humor about ADHD but do get a little turned off when it's presented as a superpower. Yeah, of course there are things my brain can do that is hard for others but it turned off a lot of important stuff to do that.

[Inner Albania]

I'm neurodivergent. More specifically, I have high-functiining autism.

[Urine Town]

I like people having a sense of humor about ADHD but do get a little turned off when it's presented as a superpower. Yeah, of course there are things my brain can do that is hard for others but it turned off a lot of important stuff to do that.

I completely agree with you that ADHD/autism is not a superpower. It is technically a disorder, but more so simply a difference in how our brains are wired. There are both positive and negative aspects of neurodivergence; albeit society functions in a way that makes a few aspects of life slightly more difficult (for me at least).

I'm neurodivergent. More specifically, I have high-functiining autism.

Same

[Cannot think of a name]

I like people having a sense of humor about ADHD but do get a little turned off when it's presented as a superpower. Yeah, of course there are things my brain can do that is hard for others but it turned off a lot of important stuff to do that.

I completely agree with you that ADHD/autism is not a superpower. It is technically a disorder, but more so simply a difference in how our brains are wired. There are both positive and negative aspects of neurodivergence; albeit society functions in a way that makes a few aspects of life slightly more difficult (for me at least).

Well, I'm left handed, so I'm already accustomed to a world designed for other people.

I wish I could turn it into a superpower. For this month at least I have the main drug. Day one and the old problem is back, can't aim the cannon. On impulse I cleaned up a portion of my room but then sat down here and wrote a bunch of novellas in posts that I had to trim down when I should be writing or looking for someone to pay me to write or pay me to do anything really...or at the very least finish cleaning my room. Also, the fucking drymouth. I'm a long time cannibis user and never experienced as much dry mouth. My breath has to smell like ass right now.

I feel like medication starts the rusty lawnmower but not the vapor lock. So that's my project for a while. Today, not a raging success.

[Kalaron]

I recently self-administered the AQ and RMET at the ripe old age of 62. I've suspected for a while I might have some traits, but my scores (44 out of 50 for the AQ, and 23 out of 36 for RMET) were rather more squarely on the spectrum than I expected. It rather shook me up, to be honest this is the first time I've mentioned it to anyone, I've not told friends or family. I'm not thinking of going for a proper diagnosis, I'm not in education (though there was no help anyway for this when I was at school and university) and I no longer work, so I don't really see any point.

I took these tests, and I have to go get diagnosed sometime.

I've always been v e r y scared to apply the label in the same way I've been scared to think I might have a need for therapy. But, it does make me feel better to at least have taken these online bits for it, y'know?