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.