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So...what IS "neurodivergent"
10 months ago
(RECOMMENDED SITE: https://embrace-autism.com/)
A lot of you were interested in this, so I'll explain with some examples. It's a relatively new thing to me -- my daughter (who encouraged me to confirm the diagnosis that yes, I'm autistic AND ADHD) introduced me to the term. It doesn't mean "autistic" (though autistic people fall into the neurodivergent category) and it doesn't imply "mentally deficient ala Rain Man" (though they are also neurodivergent)
Basically it's kind of an umbrella term that means "this person thinks and reacts in ways that are very different from normal people."
Think of a color... "blue" for example, and let's pair it with "neurodivergent." "Aqua" is a type of blue... we could say that's ADHD, and "cobalt blue" is a type of blue ...we might say that was Downs Syndrome, and "sky blue" is still another type of blue... we could pair that with dyslexia... and so forth.
Neurodivergent is a big term and covers a bunch of categories that often interlace (Downs syndrome people CAN have ADHD and be dyslexic as well, for example.)
About 1/5th of the people in the world are neurodivergent, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that MOST fans have some sort of neurodivergence (good explanation is right here: https://medvidi.com/blog/types-of-neurodiversity)
WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER PARTS?
The other term you need to know is "masking", where someone adapts some behaviors so you don't notice how different they are. One of my strategies is to ask people about themselves... they'll talk and will forget to ask questions that I have a VERY hard time answering.
Take the question, "where are you from." That always gets a tiny panic response in me because I'm not sure if THIS time the person means "where were you born" or "where did you grow up" or "where do you currently live" and are they asking for address or state or country (I'm an Army brat, so it's hard to answer anything but "what US state do you live in right now?) The parting comment "We should get together soon" is another scary question -- did they mean 'this month'? Am I supposed to go to their house? Will they invite me or must I invite them? Is it an empty phrase or did they mean it? What kind of get together? (etc.)
I tamp down my panic at being unable to sort through the meaning and say something cheerful.
This is one of the markers of autism (which I have. I'm very high functioning and mask it well after a lifetime of practice.)
That's masking.
WHAT ABOUT AUTISIM? YOU DON'T LOOK AUTISTIC
Here's some other markers of autism (NOTE: ALL PEOPLE HAVE THESE TO SOME DEGREE AT SOME TIME IN THEIR LIVES AND UNDER SOME CONDITIONS. Autistic people have them to a degree where it hampers their ability to interact with others.)
lack of response to names (Yes)
limited eye contact (yes, that's me. So much so that I can't even look in the mirror at my face for very long. Body, yes. I can do that. Face, no.)
literal interpretation of language (me in spades)
repetitive phrases (about the only one that doesn't apply)
repetitive movements (e.g., hand-flapping) (it's jaw-chomping. Constantly.)
difficulty expressing emotions (Yes. This doesn't mean without emotion -- I feel so strongly that I go into "shut down" mode)
intense interests (oh man, this is me in spades)
difficulty with friendships (Yes. I can't tell the difference between someone being friendly or just being socially pleasant so I assume very few people consider me a friend.)
sensitivity to certain tastes, smells, or sounds (again, in spades here.)
-- to the degree that I can't really function well around most other people. So, a shared office space is REALLY stressful for me. I've done it and masked, but it was nerve-wracking and sometimes I would go sit in the bathroom and cry because it was so hard.
Here's a psychologist showing how autism is diagnosed (I'm A+B+C) https://neurodivergentinsights.com/.....n-picture-form
Now, please don't feel sorry for me. I have a high quality life with husband and family that really love me, and people I enjoy both online and offline. I'm a happy and upbeat person. I stay active and challenged, and I love being able to have the time to help people and causes.
Most of all, I am accepted for the sweet-tempered little weirdo that I am. And that's the BIG difference.
AND SOME OF YOU ARE WONDERING IF YOU'RE AUTISTIC
Be careful with the diagnosis. Let me state that unless you (like I) are retired, it is NOT to your advantage to have a diagnosis. You can do a self-diagnosis for your own information (and to develop strategies by reading up or watching videos) but unless you're incapacitated, don't push for a diagnosis.
The prejudice is real, here, and a formal diagnosis will hurt you in the job market -- but if you want to explore, here's some interesting sites (note that I focus on written material and clinicians... I generally don't watch video because I find video material unpleasant (yep, neurodivergent))
https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog
If you're autistic AND ADHD (yay me!) this is what it looks like: https://laconciergepsychologist.com.....tism-and-adhd/
**FREE TESTS*** And THIS wonderful site has a bunch of the tests WITH rankings from clinicians on how good/outdated the test is: https://embrace-autism.com/autism-tests/
Some other tests for neurodivergency: https://exceptionalindividuals.com/.....rsity-quizzes/
...and remember, it would not be surprising if most of you have one or more forms of neurodivergency. It's common in creative people, and it's part of why the Furry community is such a refuge for people. Neurodivergents "get" other Neurodivergents and it's healing to be seen as "normal" within a group (even if the group doesn't quite conform to the rest of the world's idea of normal.
...thank you for coming to my Ted talk. :)
A lot of you were interested in this, so I'll explain with some examples. It's a relatively new thing to me -- my daughter (who encouraged me to confirm the diagnosis that yes, I'm autistic AND ADHD) introduced me to the term. It doesn't mean "autistic" (though autistic people fall into the neurodivergent category) and it doesn't imply "mentally deficient ala Rain Man" (though they are also neurodivergent)
Basically it's kind of an umbrella term that means "this person thinks and reacts in ways that are very different from normal people."
Think of a color... "blue" for example, and let's pair it with "neurodivergent." "Aqua" is a type of blue... we could say that's ADHD, and "cobalt blue" is a type of blue ...we might say that was Downs Syndrome, and "sky blue" is still another type of blue... we could pair that with dyslexia... and so forth.
Neurodivergent is a big term and covers a bunch of categories that often interlace (Downs syndrome people CAN have ADHD and be dyslexic as well, for example.)
About 1/5th of the people in the world are neurodivergent, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that MOST fans have some sort of neurodivergence (good explanation is right here: https://medvidi.com/blog/types-of-neurodiversity)
WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER PARTS?
The other term you need to know is "masking", where someone adapts some behaviors so you don't notice how different they are. One of my strategies is to ask people about themselves... they'll talk and will forget to ask questions that I have a VERY hard time answering.
Take the question, "where are you from." That always gets a tiny panic response in me because I'm not sure if THIS time the person means "where were you born" or "where did you grow up" or "where do you currently live" and are they asking for address or state or country (I'm an Army brat, so it's hard to answer anything but "what US state do you live in right now?) The parting comment "We should get together soon" is another scary question -- did they mean 'this month'? Am I supposed to go to their house? Will they invite me or must I invite them? Is it an empty phrase or did they mean it? What kind of get together? (etc.)
I tamp down my panic at being unable to sort through the meaning and say something cheerful.
This is one of the markers of autism (which I have. I'm very high functioning and mask it well after a lifetime of practice.)
That's masking.
WHAT ABOUT AUTISIM? YOU DON'T LOOK AUTISTIC
Here's some other markers of autism (NOTE: ALL PEOPLE HAVE THESE TO SOME DEGREE AT SOME TIME IN THEIR LIVES AND UNDER SOME CONDITIONS. Autistic people have them to a degree where it hampers their ability to interact with others.)
lack of response to names (Yes)
limited eye contact (yes, that's me. So much so that I can't even look in the mirror at my face for very long. Body, yes. I can do that. Face, no.)
literal interpretation of language (me in spades)
repetitive phrases (about the only one that doesn't apply)
repetitive movements (e.g., hand-flapping) (it's jaw-chomping. Constantly.)
difficulty expressing emotions (Yes. This doesn't mean without emotion -- I feel so strongly that I go into "shut down" mode)
intense interests (oh man, this is me in spades)
difficulty with friendships (Yes. I can't tell the difference between someone being friendly or just being socially pleasant so I assume very few people consider me a friend.)
sensitivity to certain tastes, smells, or sounds (again, in spades here.)
-- to the degree that I can't really function well around most other people. So, a shared office space is REALLY stressful for me. I've done it and masked, but it was nerve-wracking and sometimes I would go sit in the bathroom and cry because it was so hard.
Here's a psychologist showing how autism is diagnosed (I'm A+B+C) https://neurodivergentinsights.com/.....n-picture-form
Now, please don't feel sorry for me. I have a high quality life with husband and family that really love me, and people I enjoy both online and offline. I'm a happy and upbeat person. I stay active and challenged, and I love being able to have the time to help people and causes.
Most of all, I am accepted for the sweet-tempered little weirdo that I am. And that's the BIG difference.
AND SOME OF YOU ARE WONDERING IF YOU'RE AUTISTIC
Be careful with the diagnosis. Let me state that unless you (like I) are retired, it is NOT to your advantage to have a diagnosis. You can do a self-diagnosis for your own information (and to develop strategies by reading up or watching videos) but unless you're incapacitated, don't push for a diagnosis.
The prejudice is real, here, and a formal diagnosis will hurt you in the job market -- but if you want to explore, here's some interesting sites (note that I focus on written material and clinicians... I generally don't watch video because I find video material unpleasant (yep, neurodivergent))
https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog
If you're autistic AND ADHD (yay me!) this is what it looks like: https://laconciergepsychologist.com.....tism-and-adhd/
**FREE TESTS*** And THIS wonderful site has a bunch of the tests WITH rankings from clinicians on how good/outdated the test is: https://embrace-autism.com/autism-tests/
Some other tests for neurodivergency: https://exceptionalindividuals.com/.....rsity-quizzes/
...and remember, it would not be surprising if most of you have one or more forms of neurodivergency. It's common in creative people, and it's part of why the Furry community is such a refuge for people. Neurodivergents "get" other Neurodivergents and it's healing to be seen as "normal" within a group (even if the group doesn't quite conform to the rest of the world's idea of normal.
...thank you for coming to my Ted talk. :)
Rough estimate is that at most it's one out of five.
Some of those folks are on the extreme end of autism, but you wouldn't know that just to talk to them here. Being autistic DEFINITELY doesn't mean that someone is stupid. It can even be the exact opposite. That being able to communicate and find a home online is no doubt one of the reasons they've found a home here. It's much like how so many queer people have found a home here.
(* sigh *) So glad I'm retired.
Familiar.
And I agree that fandom, especially furry fandom is a refuge that we definitely gravitate towards.
-Badger-
As far as I know, I am none of these things - but then again I am. When I am writing, I am in the story. The first time I remember this was happening was when I was looking at a picture of Japanese airmen huddled on the flight deck just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The picture was taken from higher up, and it was as if I was standing next to the photographer.
In certain books, I found myself knowing things (historic details) I had no business knowing.
I so love your final statement. My very first con, I actually ran from the building and back to my car. I had walked in, very excited, and the first thing I saw was a fellow about my size dressed in a pink bunny sleeper complete with footies. This rattled my cage more than a bit. Standing by my car, I told myself, 'These are your people. Get used to it.'
I went back in, and the first person I recognized (only from description) was Pepper Coyote. He gave me a big hug, I cried, and then everything was OK. For the first time, I was among people I DID NOT have to explain myself to. That is exactly why I go to cons.
Vix
Maybe not neurodivergent but divergent. The fandom is a fine place for misfits of many kinds.
Vix
That's why I have a crusade against the bigots and haters here. I will never tolerate them.
Vix
Vix
That's a big reason I hung around America after I graduated college, and eventually immigrated. I'd found my people. I appointed a new Comix Nerd of Iceland, lit out for the Americas, and never looked back.
No, I tell a lie. I did go back some years ago, to attend an Icelandic convention. Thanks to the Net, many nerds have come out of the closet in Iceland. Good for them!