Proposing new terms for neurodivergent individuals

@SAMHAIN The fact of the matter is, human beings as primates with the brains we have operate based on comparison of ourselves against our surrounding environment, and by comparison of the objects we interact with in comparison to our experiences with similar objects and experiences. This is where the concept of "I/self" versus "the other" derives, and this happens despite any social context or educational material to every child. For all children who speak, it is evidenced upon their first use of the first person, which denotes understanding of duality. (𝑨𝒍𝒔𝒐, 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆/𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐—𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 [𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆]. 𝑯𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉: 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘.) Humanity getting to an emotional point where they cannot handle the entire concept or substantiation of ★comparison itself★ without hurting their Ego (read: "feelings which protect their insecurities") is the problem in and of itself, not the comparison being made. Clinically applying terms which *may* cause *an* individual to feel bad about themselves can be debated as whether or not it's relatively still beneficial when used in large numbers across many populations, but it's going to be pretty hard to debate that we will ever find a term which makes 100% of people on all points of the neurodivergent spectrum and the Ally gradient happy. Subjective experience will always be just that—subjective. Just look at xenogenders. 💕 I like what you've done—to just take a phrasing you enjoy or find affiliation with, and use it for yourself and in your own speech. I find this far more executable than finding a label that works for everyone. Relative side note, here: "High/Low Functioning Autistic" was done-away with, along with the other old titles 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, in the creation of the term "Spectrum Disorder" for the DSM-V. And that was its 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆—to functionally erase those terms from both clinical and social use. This was following a case study which brought a number of autists and allistics into evaluation by a number of (notably: all-allistic) clinicians and resulted in 𝙣𝙤 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙨. This very clearly displayed a lack of understanding of the actual condition under question, as well as implied mis-diagnosis of countless individuals in ways which the results cannot be realistically quantified. The entire field made quick amends with the introduction of the Neurodivergent Spectrum and the release of the Fifth Edition, as a first step toward taking a new diagnostic approach to this varied affliction. "𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁, 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁" was officially, clinically, recognised. Any clinician still using HFA/LFA labels is blatantly letting on that they aren't keeping up with current research, as well as blatantly harming their patients by giving them literal labels which imply to others their level of abilities across some sort of implied gradient. You shouldn't worry too much about the use of these terms—it's the same thing as saying someone has "moral failing, clumsy child syndrome, minimal brain dysfunction," or calling someone "morally corrupt, ret*rded," or any of the other long collection of descriptors used to describe us since the 1700s. Notice which of those is most recent, and the fact it's the only one I had to censor because it's 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 since everyone who's personally been described with and affected by it isn't dead, and there's still a large "hiss hiss" regarding its use, even in historical reference, to avoid hurting those feelings. That's where HFA/LFA is now. Give it a timeline, and it'll fade into obscurity. ♡

@Snowy Yo ➕1️⃣ on the "I am unable to hold back the cynicism I feel toward this and thusly: 𝑮𝒍𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒚 '𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏' 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉." sentiment. Especially considering my CAT-Q. Triggered 🤣 (AQ : 46/50) (SQ: 144/150) (Aspie 176ND/49NT=Δ127↑) (RBQ-2A: 58/60) (RAADS-R: 183/240) (EQ: 22/80) (CATQ: 155/175) If I were Dx'd a few years ago, I would have been tagged "HFA/Asperger’s Syndrome" for sure. I strongly relate to and both emoathise & sympathise with anyone whose sentiment comes through post-dx as "I don't feel right claiming it/utilising assistance & accommodations sometimes because I don't feel 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝." I've been told all my life I have no excuse for my shortcomings, struggles, and differences, and have literally been told to "pull up my bootstraps"/"sack up" and get going with everyone else. Part of the diagnostic criteria for Autism is literally being told you're wrong, and essentially having all of your differential experiences gaslit. That's why we basically all come with PTSD as well: we all exist in a neurotypical world. And I feel this holds a direct relationship with the social perception, stigmas, acceptance, and development or evolution of the status quo which surrounds them in their locale. Folks in blue areas, seemingly, tend to be more accepting of themselves, open about their conditions, and relaxed about how an individual chooses to describe themselves—while almost the polar opposite holds true in red areas and for the afflicted within them. I think there's a lot to take away from this observation. ADHDers are said to receive 20,000 *more* negative messages than positive ones by 𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟭𝟬. And a stricter environment and upbringing are known to exacerbate neurodivergent traits, further feeding into this negative feedback loop. It's no wonder the red states generally create people with such terrible self-esteem and inability to accept themselves. AKA: "large Egos" Real-life example of this: I attended my first appointment for my ASD dx eval 𝟳 𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦 after my first phone call to the clinic to request it. This is literally unheard of in any other autist's experience as far as I have discussed or borne witness in my extensive *special interest hyperfocused rabbitholing.* The usual wait time seems to be 1-3 years. Where do I live? Nebraska. Where the complete lack of care or attention to one's mental health in the general population has worked to my advantage for the first and probably last time I'll ever experience.😆😮‍💨