i truly feel like shriveling up any time i overhear some version of the conversation “why does Person have Symptom/Issue?” “because they have Psychological Disorder” - ESPECIALLY when the person asking is a child
because all it fucking does is reinforce the idea that you need to qualify for a diagnosis for any issues you might have to matter
if someone believes that, say, ADHD and/or Autism are the cause of Needing To Fidget, then they’ll come to the conclusion that if someone can’t get diagnosed with those things, then they’re just faking, or they’re doing it on purpose to be annoying, or that they must just not be trying hard enough to stop.
“you don’t have adhd, quit rocking back and forth.”
“you don’t have autism, food textures shouldn’t bother you. grow up and just eat it.”
“you don’t have anxiety, this shouldn’t be an issue for you.”
and they’ll literally say that shit while in the very same breath sincerely and HEAVILY accomodating someone who is diagnosed with one of those things!!!!
if you genuinely want to avoid giving uninformed people (especially children) wrong impressions, honestly, just stick to “that’s just the way their brain works” or even “i don’t know.” if you have to, YES, have THAT conversation! tell them that brains are complicated and a lot of things can be different about them in every single person, and that when someone has a sensory or social issue, they just have it and it’s not their fault, because THAT is what people need to know! that’s it!