Such weird discourse happening on my timeline right now, so I just wanna make this very clear.
‘Nonverbal’ isn’t a clinical or diagnostic term. It’s just a way to describe not being able to speak. That can be temporary or permanent.
Saying you ‘went nonverbal’ is no different than saying you ‘blacked out from anxiety’ or were ‘frozen in fear.’ Nobody thinks that means you’re unconscious or paralyzed forever.
Let autistic people describe our own experiences without the gatekeeping. It’s a term made by us, for us, to describe a very real and often difficult part of our lives. It shouldn’t be taken away from us by people who don’t understand it, nor people who think they make the rules because they know someone who experiences it more.
This is way too reminiscent of when people ask for the “requirements” to be an age regressor, a furry, or to call themselves queer—acting like symptoms, communities, or labels are the same as diagnoses. Except in this case, instead of encouraging people to use the terms they’re comfortable with, everyone’s dogpiling on people for using a term literally made to describe what they’re experiencing.
It’s so weird.
Goodnight.
Yes, I know my DNI banner says no discourse. This just refers to debating my (or anyone else's) validity or morality in off topic posts. Thank you.
