Noted, and I will endeavor to keep that in mind. I trend toward a sort of thinking that is not always welcome, so I have learned to ask. I have three threads of thought on this. NB: I am very much neuroqueer, and neurodivergent along multiple axes.
Also, apologies in advance, this has gotten rather long.
First, examining the annoyance:
Query: to what degree might the annoyance stem from you not having a diagnosis that explains the traits in question, your having been, to use your words, pulled into attention and/or made fun of as a child for these traits, and the neurodivergent people with whom you're noting similarities being "allowed" to be thus?
What brings me to ask this is from the complete opposite side... I wasn't diagnosed with ADD until I was 31. Living with undx'ed ADD and being held to NT standards (which I could not possibly meet in such state) led me to have what, it turns out, are unreasonable expectations of the way NT folx brains work. I've (rather recently) learned that I get terribly vexed when NT people forget things, have executive function issues, don't/can't pay attention, lose track of time and/or are late for things, and so on. I have been rather harshly criticized for these traits for as long as I can remember, which caused me to think that these were things with which Other People™ did not have issues. (As an aside, I do not take it that my dx gives me an excuse / allows such, rather it gives me some insight into the things I need to do to mitigate my issues, presenting me with a framework of already-extant research into solutions to apply to help me interface with a world that requires such things.)
My experience on that side of it makes me wonder if, perhaps, from your side of it, you might see people (to some degree or another) getting slack for things for which you get/have gotten none? I could see that being annoying on that deep level childhood at which trauma often operates. Anyway, that's just a stab in the relative dark.
Second, regarding neurodiversity and the watering down of diagnostic categories:
It may be helpful to consider that a fundamental point of neurocosmopolitainism is that neurodivergence v. neurotypicality is a false binary. Rather, neurocognitive function is simply another form of biodiversity.
ADD and Autism are not the only forms of neurodiversity (despite the people who insist that "neurodivergent" is, basically, the politically correct term for "Autistic"), and, frankly, "neurotypicality" is far more narrow a band of neurocognitive function than calling it "typicality" implies. Which is to say that diagnostic categories for an umbrella term like "neurodivergent" are rather meaningless. Autism is Autism, AD(H)D is AD(H)D, Sensory Processing (or Integration) Disorder is Sensory Processing (or Integration) Disorder, but they're all forms of neurodivergence. So is (clinical) depression, (clinical) anxiety, bipolar, HSP, and on and on. Heck, so is being "giftie". Or aphantasic. Or, or, or.
This is not simply postmodernism (or Mad Theory) run amok, but honestly, this comment has gone on well past long enough and I still have another point to make.
Third, regarding the overlap you are noting:
There's lots of overlap between HSP and Autism, AD(H)D and Autism (to the point that some people want to say AD(H)D is on the spectrum, but I'd argue contra), HSP or SPD and AD(H)D or Autism... HSP and SP(I)D can be quite hard to tell apart from the outside, on and on. My point about this (and the previous point) being that while you may not be autistic or have AD(H)D, you may have some other form of neurodivergence (that may or may not be considered clinical/"disordered" *spit*) that has overlaps with the forms of neurodivergence to which you refer.
That is, it is well within the realm of the possible that you are neurodivergent, even if you're not autistic and don't have AD(H)D.
Anyway, hopefully some of this rambling is in some way useful.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2020-12-18 05:31 am (UTC)Also, apologies in advance, this has gotten rather long.
First, examining the annoyance:
Query: to what degree might the annoyance stem from you not having a diagnosis that explains the traits in question, your having been, to use your words, pulled into attention and/or made fun of as a child for these traits, and the neurodivergent people with whom you're noting similarities being "allowed" to be thus?
What brings me to ask this is from the complete opposite side... I wasn't diagnosed with ADD until I was 31. Living with undx'ed ADD and being held to NT standards (which I could not possibly meet in such state) led me to have what, it turns out, are unreasonable expectations of the way NT folx brains work. I've (rather recently) learned that I get terribly vexed when NT people forget things, have executive function issues, don't/can't pay attention, lose track of time and/or are late for things, and so on. I have been rather harshly criticized for these traits for as long as I can remember, which caused me to think that these were things with which Other People™ did not have issues. (As an aside, I do not take it that my dx gives me an excuse / allows such, rather it gives me some insight into the things I need to do to mitigate my issues, presenting me with a framework of already-extant research into solutions to apply to help me interface with a world that requires such things.)
My experience on that side of it makes me wonder if, perhaps, from your side of it, you might see people (to some degree or another) getting slack for things for which you get/have gotten none? I could see that being annoying on that deep level childhood at which trauma often operates. Anyway, that's just a stab in the relative dark.
Second, regarding neurodiversity and the watering down of diagnostic categories:
It may be helpful to consider that a fundamental point of neurocosmopolitainism is that neurodivergence v. neurotypicality is a false binary. Rather, neurocognitive function is simply another form of biodiversity.
ADD and Autism are not the only forms of neurodiversity (despite the people who insist that "neurodivergent" is, basically, the politically correct term for "Autistic"), and, frankly, "neurotypicality" is far more narrow a band of neurocognitive function than calling it "typicality" implies. Which is to say that diagnostic categories for an umbrella term like "neurodivergent" are rather meaningless. Autism is Autism, AD(H)D is AD(H)D, Sensory Processing (or Integration) Disorder is Sensory Processing (or Integration) Disorder, but they're all forms of neurodivergence. So is (clinical) depression, (clinical) anxiety, bipolar, HSP, and on and on. Heck, so is being "giftie". Or aphantasic. Or, or, or.
This is not simply postmodernism (or Mad Theory) run amok, but honestly, this comment has gone on well past long enough and I still have another point to make.
Third, regarding the overlap you are noting:
There's lots of overlap between HSP and Autism, AD(H)D and Autism (to the point that some people want to say AD(H)D is on the spectrum, but I'd argue contra), HSP or SPD and AD(H)D or Autism... HSP and SP(I)D can be quite hard to tell apart from the outside, on and on. My point about this (and the previous point) being that while you may not be autistic or have AD(H)D, you may have some other form of neurodivergence (that may or may not be considered clinical/"disordered" *spit*) that has overlaps with the forms of neurodivergence to which you refer.
That is, it is well within the realm of the possible that you are neurodivergent, even if you're not autistic and don't have AD(H)D.
Anyway, hopefully some of this rambling is in some way useful.