Diagnosis is indeed a long and involved process - I work with a lot of psychiatrists and yes, there's quite a lot of opinion and guesswork going on. That's a big problem with mental health. The mental health professionals I work with don't talk about neurodiversity, because (in all honesty) it doesn't really apply where I work. We deal with untreated psychosis, psychopathy and paranoid schizophrenia. Are there autistic people in the hospital - there sure are, and the law makes some allowances for these things, but nobody parses this out in terms of neurodivergence.
By all means send me a list of autism and ADHD facts, nobody ever got more stupid from reading things. I love reading and I'll read most things.
And yes, phoney self-diagnosis is what this article is about. The title isn't - Neurodivegence is Both Stupid and Dangerous. The title is 'Neurodivergence' is Both Stupid and Dangerous. The difference is important. Those little bunny ears around the N word are there for a reason. They're telling you the WORD is stupid and dangerous and its consistent misapplication is stupid and dangerous. The word is common parlance is different from the technical definition - and people are jumping on the bandwagon to justify whatever minutiae behaviour they want as a symptom of something equating a serious issue. I stubbed my toe on my way to get my coffee this morning, if we're not careful about how language games are played, I could also be entitled to some of the help you get for dyspraxia.
The tone of my article is fairly Penguin, if you've not come across me before then it's pretty much what I do. You have to write to engage people, entertain them, or otherwise encourage them to comment. Once they comment, as you have done - you can begin to tease out the nuances of the discussion. It's a tried and tested method and I've been here a long time. It doesn't win me many friends, but eventual grudging respect. People tend to react badly to whatever they feel most strongly about, but quite enjoy the things they agree with. That's just how it works. Check the back catalogue and you'll see what I mean.
As for the Auschwitz jibe, not really a jibe - more an observation. A fairly blunt one. But one nevertheless. I could write an entire article on the gentle repurposing of poor physical health into empowerment, and I probably will one day. I say that as someone who is overweight (as most Penguins have to be). Western society plays complicated games with language to bend reality around itself. I am not a fan. If you're Jewish, then you might enjoy me coming out to bat for the Jewish https://medium.com/p/95b414ea8d5a - that's when society decided to play language games with Anne Frank.
And yes, cognitive and sensory difference - as well different learning styles have dropped off the radar. However, we cannot reintroduce them by force and self-diagnosis alone. People are too prone to try and leverage advantage in social situation - again, that could be a whole other article.
If you want to write a rebuttal article then you're more than welcome to do so. I don't believe in echo chambers, I do believe in engagement... so if you write it, tag me in, and if you've rebutted my views cogently and coherently without calling me names then i'll link it at the bottom of this story. People should be reading things they disagree with - as you did when you read this article. :o)
