Reblog if you understand that disability is not a monolith and two people with the same disability do not have identical experiences ✨
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Reblog if you understand that disability is not a monolith and two people with the same disability do not have identical experiences ✨
fuck it. shout out to "high functioning" neurodivergents
the ones who can mask easily, the ones who can get social cues, the ones who have managed to go most of their life not even knowing they were ND because they didn't present as the stereotypical ND person.
the ones who can pay attention in class, understand social etiquette, who understand societial expectations
the ones who don't feel neurodivergent enough bc they don't struggle in the same ways/areas a lot of NDs do, or they can't relate to other NDs' experiences because they always understood these things easily
the ones with high empathy, the ones who DO get the joke, the ones who are constantly told that they can't possibly be neurodivergent because they don't act like what you'd expect a neurodivergent person to act like.
you are neurodivergent enough. you are valid, and so are your experiences. not struggling as much as others do in some places doesn't mean you dont struggle at all. your condition and diagnosis is valid. your symptoms are valid. YOU ARE VALID. not checking all the supposed boxes doesn't mean you aren't neurodivergent. you are enough. you are valid. you are loved. you are valued. you matter. you belong in neurodivergent spaces, you deserve to use whatever resources are available to you, you are allowed to take up space in these communities. and i am so, so proud of you.
feel free to, and actually, i encourage you to reblog this with your experiences. we belong in this community as much as anyone else. please also tag this w/ any neurodivergent conditions i may have forgotten 💙
since this is getting lots of notes I'd like to add, even if you're undiagnosed or maybe self diagnosed, for whatever reason, (i.e. can't get access to a diagnosis, not being taken seriously, or just not wanting an official diagnosis, etc.) this still applies to you. actually especially to you folks. don't think for a second you're not valid just bc you don't have the paperwork or whatever to say it
please stop associating the term neurodivergent with JUST autism and adhd. like please. there are so many ways to be neurodivergent and it’s not fair to assume that it’s just about autism adhd.
Shoutout to neurodivergents who were punished or marked down in assignments for using too complex language, and also shoutout to neurodivergents who were punished or marked down in assignments for using too simple language, and also shout out to neurodivergents who were punished for both of these depending on the most recent way they fucked up
i am convinced that "eccentric" is just the pre-discovery-of-neurodiversity word for neurodivergent. yeah hes "eccentric" oh you just mean he has autism. that's why he's weird bro. he just has adhd. anyway in other news i think i might be eccentric?
Common Autistic Strengths
Excellent memory skills
Can teach self difficult skills, like how things work
May have extensive knowledge in certain topics
Hyperlexia: may read words at a younger age
May excel in music, art, science, math, computer
Can hyperfocus on areas of interests
May know letters, numbers, shapes, and colors early
Mrs Speechie Pi
I'm so torn about the gifted label.
On the one hand, I think the name "gifted" in itself is too hierarchical both for my liking and for the phenomenon it describes to be taken as anything more than "people trying to be special". Like, with a name like "gifted", yeah, I see where people draw that conclusion.
On the other hand, the phenomenon the term describes is very much real. It's part of mine and many other peoples' lived experiences - a heightened inquisitiveness and awareness of/preference for complexity. Gifted/multi-exceptional spaces are some of the only in which I feel like my true experiences and needs are reflected and affirmed. If it's all just "privileged nonsense" (which it isn't - many people who have these traits are often underprivileged in many ways and will have a very different, usually negative experience with these traits as opposed to people who have the same traits but are better-off, better-liked, and tick fewer minority boxes), then all my feelings and needs and those of thousands of other people are, what, nothing? That is an incredibly ignorant stance, and if you hold it, I hope my words can make you reconsider.
I don't know what to do, who to listen to - I don't like being told "just listen to ur heart!!!" bc I doubt myself too much for that, it's not a matter of "just" doing anything. I have these experiences, I have these needs, and I'm tired of being given negative value judgments just for acknowledging them! More importantly, I'm tired of feeling like I'm alone in them. I don't want to feel like a "special exception", I want to hear that I'm not crazy, I want to see that the world has room for me in it.