"neurodivergent" isn't really a useful term clinically
coming from an autistic medical student
what I mean is: "neurodivergent" doesn't really tell your doctor anything. are you autistic? ADHD? brain injury? schizophrenia? intellectual disability? learning disorder? even within each of these labels there is enormous variation but "neurodivergent" has even vaguer implications for your doctor.
that is not to say that "neurodivergent" is a useless term. it is, in other contexts, like in sociology/disability studies, in politics and disability advocacy, where vagueness is not a barrier and can even be purposeful.
it's like "queer". incredibly useful term, socially and politically. clinically, my first question is going to be "what does this mean?". do you have gender-affirming surgeries or medications? is pregnancy a possibility in your relationship structure? are you at an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections?
for "neurodivergent" my first question is also going to be "what do you mean by that?" and "is there anything specific I have to consider?". "neurodivergent" is perhaps a good term to open the conversation but beyond that I don't really find it useful.
that's also not to say that I am judging patients for using the word "neurodivergent"; patients use the words they have and know and if that's the word they use, that clearly means something for them and/or they give it to us because they think it helps us, which is a good thing. I'm not saying you can't use the term neurodivergent with your doctor but the caveats are a) not every doctor is going to know what that means and b) your doctor probably needs more specific information about what that means (and it is the doctor's responsibility to ask follow-up questions about the implications the term "neurodivergent" has for your care)
