I am a bit of a "neuro"sceptic

[glowingfish]

Well, hopefully this won't be too controversial.

First, I am obviously not a doctor or a MHP, and if someone thinks that the language of "neurodiversity" works for them and explains things for them, whether they have a formal diagnosis or not, I am not going to object.

But the thing is, I've started to get skeptical of these things, as they are treated in popular culture, and especially when I think someone has something to sell. When I was a kid, and first learned what autism was, it meant people who were unable to live unassisted. Then, in the early 2000s, it started expanding its definition. But now, the definition seems to include...everyone? Like, according to Instagram, every possible personality trait can be explained by autism and ADHD, including sometimes contradictory ones. Outgoing, shy, detail oriented, spontaneous, literal, creative, conformist, non-conformist...from what I have read, pretty much all of these and more can be attributed to "neurodivergence".

I guess the reason why this has started to annoy me is that there are a lot of things about my life that make me different. Some of them are pretty personal and important. And I don't like that some people choose to collapse all of this into a rather stereotypical thing. For example, I grew up spending a lot of time reading alone because I lived in a small town and didn't have much money, and (as I mentioned in an earlier post), these were the days before children participated in clubs and lessons. I have mixed feelings about growing up this way. But, but, but, I have started to get mad when this story, my personal story, that I have thought about for decades, is judged by someone as me being "on the spectrum" because that is what Instagram explainers say it is.

Comments

[silver_chipmunk]

Personally I agree with you. You may have noticed in my journal about my Middle Brother who lives in a group home. He was diagnosed with autism back in the early '60s, just before I was born in 1962, in fact. And autism as I knew it growing up was very different from what it is seen to be now. My brother is not capable of independent living. He does fine at his group home but needs care and supervision. Now granted, there are plenty of people who are seriously affected by autism who are capable of living on their own and having an independent life, I know some of them too, but it seems now like every little quirk in a personality is diagnosed as autism. I think it makes more sense to say someone has autistic traits, than to say they are fully autistic.

[glowingfish]

Yeah, this is how I look at it.

But even, what is an "autistic trait"?
For example, I don't normally watch television. I have a television in my living room, but I haven't turned it on since December. I do watch videos on YouTube, on my laptop or my phone, although they aren't "TV Shows" as such, mostly short documentary videos or things in Spanish. Anyway, so when people talk about new tv shows that everyone is following...I don't know what they are talking about, and don't really care.

So is not watching TV an autistic trait? I prefer reading, since I can focus on the images and stories I create in my own mind. And not on the social experience of watching people interact, in a way that I can use to form social bonds with others.

But also...lots of autistic people, at least by modern standards, love television, are into fandoms, follow every show, etc.

So, like, even when it comes to just a preference like that, it could be seen as an autistic trait...or the opposite of an autistic trait?

[silver_chipmunk]

That's what I call a "personality quirk", I don't watch too much television either, though I do watch some, usually with my friend at zer home. It's just what makes one person different from another.

[kristy]

Hugs...

[glowingfish]

That is kind, but I am okay! Just kind of rambling about stuff here!

[kristy]

Glad you're doing ok! :]

[zavodilaterrarium]

[...] I've started to get skeptical of these things, as they are treated in popular culture [...]

Oh 100%, once something gets into the broader culture, it usually gets watered down a lot by people who don't know what they're talking about (or are purposefully obfuscating the truth), often to the point where none of it is meaningful anymore.

[...]every possible personality trait can be explained by autism and ADHD, including sometimes contradictory ones.

I mean, it's sort of true in a vague, misleading way? Brain function is complicated, and the same root cause can present in a lot of different ways — like sexual trauma sometimes leading to hypersexuality, but sometimes leading to total abstinence.

A lot of symptoms are also influenced by environment, whether literally or only in perception. One can absolutely act 'normally' for one's culture but have structural brain differences, or one can seem very 'abnormal' while being structurally the same as everyone else.

The way a culture treats people, especially disabled or 'different' folk, can push one's personality in certain directions that may seem contradictory in a single individual, but are part of a larger pattern. For example, if you or people like you are treated negatively for outward traits, then that can encourage either a desperate embrace of conformity for safety, or the decision to completely commit to non-conformity since you "could never truly fit in anyway". This example applies to pretty much any "out-group", and may contribute to the supposed increased rate of disabled (including neurodivergent and mentally ill) people being (or at least realising they are) LGBTQ.

Personality traits are generally of the least concern when it comes to identifying neurodivergence though. Anyone diagnosing others via personality/behaviours only is being ridiculous.

[...] I have started to get mad when this story, my personal story, that I have thought about for decades, is judged by someone as me being "on the spectrum" because that is what Instagram explainers say it is.

Completely fair. I myself am professionally diagnosed neurodivergent, but I am still utterly frustrated when others see what isn't there simply because of what they assume about my diagnoses (or lack thereof even). Even in a case where an outsider happens to be right about you being so-and-so thing, that does not give them any right to insist that you accept such a diagnosis, especially if they are using flimsy or no evidence at all.

[glowingfish]

Well, for me specifically, there was a story behind what I was talking about. I posted to Facebook about the RAADS, which is an online assessment tool for autism, and how it asked questions about feeling comfortable in "social situations".

At the time, I was in Costa Rica, which itself is pretty nice. But a lot of people there were supportive of Bukele, the dictator of El Salvador. So I would be in social situations with people who I thought were intelligent and good people, and hear them praising a dictator. And so I started avoiding socializing, or at least feeling uncomfortable doing it, because no matter how kind someone was to me, if they support cruelty, I don't have enough in common with them to enjoy the interaction.
(NB: obviously a political issue like this has a lot of nuance, etc, but I do have some lines as far as what I think is ethically and morally okay)

In general, the rise of populism has led to a lot of cruelty and ignorance entering the world, and has made me a lot less comfortable socializing...something I used to enjoy doing, including with people of different backgrounds and politics than me. Some things that I used to be able to overlook are dealbreakers for me.

Anyway, so when I was posting about this on Facebook (I've left Facebook since then), someone I knew for years told me that questioning the test or trying to talk about nuance was itself a form of autism...and I said that me being a critical thinker doesn't make me autistic, and she replied along the lines of "Well, I guess that is just another thing you have in common with my autistic friends!", which seemed like a really smirky, mealy-mouthed thing to say, like that person couldn't accept my own personal story, and was insisting I was autistic but wouldn't actually say that.

Not that there is anything wrong with it, but for me, it was like someone saying that because I have a lisp and like figure skating, I must be gay! (I actually do have a lisp and do like figure skating, but I am straight). Like just going to a very smirky level of stereotyping.

[zavodilaterrarium]

Yeah, that's definitely uncomfortable (both the dictator support and the implication that you're "in denial"). While wishing for nuance in testing and overall questioning things is associated with autism, it's not necessarily something I'd suggest autism would explain for any specific individual. Plenty of other people already have criticism for these simple assessment tools in the first place; many of them (I believe including RAADS?) are still very much influenced by the mindset of "how does this impact people around you?" which isn't the most helpful or nuanced view of an internal condition. Proper testing does take that into account because there isn't really a a way to avoid it, but it's much less of the focus.

[glowingfish]

I keep wanting to make a post about what I think is really going on in my life. IT is complicated and there are a lot of factors...maybe at some point, I will sit down and write it out.

[zavodilaterrarium]

If you do, I hope everybody gives it a proper, nuanced read.

[glowingfish]

I did just post it, such as it is.