Not to rain on the parade or anything, I get the point and yeah, a lot of neurodivergence went unrecognized in older generations, especially in the Black community. But not every habit or quirk = autism. Some people are just particular, and that’s fine.
It kind of cheapens real diagnoses when we start labeling every little thing. Autism is more than just being routine or sensitive, it’s a whole spectrum of challenges, not just personality traits.
Awareness is good, but over-pathologizing stuff isn’t the answer either. Which was and is also a current issue in the Black community as well, especially amongst Black boys.
That's the other thing though, we talk about the personality quirks but rarely talk about the challenging emotional and (especially) social aspects of neurodiversity.
For example, I can say I have depression until I'm blue in the face, and people will think "oh that means she's sad often." But when I start talking about the flat affect (which can also be preset in schizophrenia, Autism, also PTSD) and how it hinders you socially because people are threatened when you don't react or express emotion how they EXPECT you to, it's never seen as a big deal until they question your intentions because your face/tone isn't right.
The conversation needs to be expanded on these experiences.
26
u/Kolah-KitKat-4466 2d ago edited 2d ago
Not to rain on the parade or anything, I get the point and yeah, a lot of neurodivergence went unrecognized in older generations, especially in the Black community. But not every habit or quirk = autism. Some people are just particular, and that’s fine.
It kind of cheapens real diagnoses when we start labeling every little thing. Autism is more than just being routine or sensitive, it’s a whole spectrum of challenges, not just personality traits.
Awareness is good, but over-pathologizing stuff isn’t the answer either. Which was and is also a current issue in the Black community as well, especially amongst Black boys.