Discourse about Autism is rampant nowadays, but the neurodivergent umbrella covers much more than Autism and ADHD – namely, Dyslexia, Tourette’s, OCD, and BPD. All these disorders, in one way or another, have had terms or traits appropriated into neurotypical sociolect.
Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m a bit OCD” because they like things to be clean, “We all have a little Autism/ADHD” because they present quirks in their personality, or that they are dyslexic because they can’t spell, or even, “My playlist is sooo bipolar” solely because there is a fusion of rock and pop? It might seem like this is harmless, but this language can appropriate debilitating neurodivergent traits and experiences, at the expense of a joke.
You might attribute my discomfort to being a “snowflake,” or that I’m far too easily offended, but as an Autist myself, I can explain why perhaps this trend has gone too far.
As neurodivergence has become more widely accepted in society and diagnoses are more accessible to obtain, this has led to greater awareness of these disorders and their accompanying symptoms. Especially since autistic traits can present differently in people of different genders, ethnicities etc.
Much of the neurotypical population has conflated this with a deeper understanding of neurodivergence or a go-ahead to employ terms accredited specifically to these disorders. However, as someone with Autism, I can safely say that it does little but undermine and invalidate the experiences of the neurodivergent community, of past and present.
Examples of this neurotypical co-opting of medical language are myriad, with people using these terms as an adjective for their own experiences. It is understandable, as these are new terms that explain new concepts that may resonate with people. There seems to be much more awareness of neurodivergence than there is actual understanding of it. However, you can easily educate yourself on what these new terms are instead of appropriating language and likely offending a whole minority group.
Traits such as “stimming” and overstimulation, which are largely associated with Autism, are beginning to be understood by the general population. My issue with these terms being used by neurotypicals is that they don’t know the full extent of their meaning or how to employ them correctly.
For instance, ‘stimming’ is a self-stimulatory behaviour that neurodivergents use to self-regulate, thus preventing a meltdown. Furthermore, overstimulation is a total sensory overload and can be very extreme, even provoking neurodivergents to shut down and become completely unreceptive.
These traits are not, however, quirky, fun, or trendy. Rather, they are intense internal processes that are attributed to neurodivergence, and for a reason, too. What people sometimes mean when they say such things is that they are bored, so they have played with their pen in class – which is not stimming – or that they are overwhelmed. There can be validity in using these terms, and even self-diagnosis, if these behaviours resonate. However, understanding what these terms mean is key to making sure they are not trivialised. Generally, feeling overwhelmed and experiencing overstimulation are fundamentally different and not to be synthesised.
To further the issue, the traits and rights of neurodivergent people have only started to be supported in society in the last few decades. Some of the original terms for the diagnosis of autism included: ‘Developmental Retardation’ in the 1870s, ‘Premature Dementia’ in the early 1900s, and until the 60s was, ‘Infantile Psychosis/Schizophrenia’.
Many children who were non-verbal would be classed as ‘violent’ because they had no other way of communicating – they would end up sectioned, experimented on, and endured a plethora of hardships and maltreatment. It was not until the DSM III (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) was published in 1980 that Autism was seen as its own diagnosis, not a trait of Schizophrenia or another condition. Even then, it was still mainly attributed to white males, not females or any minority race, until the DSM-5 in 2013.
It was only a few years ago that neurodivergence was the butt of a joke. A prime example of this is the recent trend of calling autistic people “acoustic”. This is only one example of the online phenomenon known as ‘Algospeak’ (meaning Algorithm-Speak), a way to bypass an algorithm’s community guidelines if you want to be offensive in some way. Some memes even went so far as to call people “Guitarded”.
In the last year or so, Neurodivergent people have seemingly gone from being the punchline to having their diagnosis co-opted, and it is both confusing and frustrating.
The treatment of neurodivergents in society has never been good, and even though it has improved, we are still not properly respected. We have gone from being “psychotic”, to infantilised and joked about, to essentially copied. Neurotypicals can decide our fates based on trends and steal our problems just because they are new and ‘quirky’.
Considering this, the next time you feel overwhelmed or are experiencing mood swings, think twice before saying you are overstimulated or Bipolar.
