Checked an old work notebook to see if there were any important notes to transfer somewhere else. Suddenly there was a doodle of myself with an infinity symbol on the t-shirt. The page was about a seminar on neurodiversity at the university! The seminar was two years ago so before my self-diagnosis.
As this might be of interest to others (no big insights though), here are my notes (translated from Finnish):
"- ADHD: different regulation of alertness, emotions, and attention (different way to be)
Autism: different social interaction, imagination, and communication (different way to see!)
Neuro minorities:
experience of being different
understanding of hierarchy
thinking outside the box
creativity
empathy
sensory regulation
own role
own pace
special interests
social pressure"
The page ends with a personal note that, in hindsight, I absolutely love:
"sometimes wondered whether I myself am on the spectrum, but then again not..."
Can't help thinking the trans trope "there were no signs" š
Travelling today. Airport security at the disabled line told me I can ājust use these next timeā, gesturing to the regular automated gates.
When I followed the accessible entrance, I found it was routed to come out into the general security area, with the big crowd that goes with it.
It seems the only difference is the wider gate, to fit a wheelchair.
Back at the entrance, I said to security, look I use this line because itās usually separate. I get anxious in big crowds, and I canāt really tolerate it right now.
Security said to me, gesturing towards the hall: ālook we have all these people right now, so we canāt have a separate place to keep it separate, because it would slow things downā
I told them āthatās why itās an accommodation. Because itās not the usualā. Security acted very put out, but did eventually help me out.
I donāt always have the spoons to fight. Many people I know never do. But that doesnāt mean they donāt have needs.
#InvisibleDisabilities are disabilities. The #sunflowerLanyard I wear isnāt for fashion, itās to make that visible. People donāt always have the spoons to stand up.
I donāt have to convince you I have a disability. Thereās more - a lot more - to accessible spaces than physical movement concerns. Your staff should be looking actively for ways to help, not waiting for people to take up a fight they might not be able to.
Iām ok. Decompressing in the bathroom because they donāt have a quiet spot.
In it I talk about the healing powers of creativity and provide practical tips, based on my own experience, for using the creative process for the upkeep of mental wellness and therapy for mental illness.
Please stop with the euphemisms. We know what we are, we don't need it explained to us. It is patronising when people try and define our identity for us.
This could be the connection between Ehlers-Danlos and neurodivergence. (People with EDS, like me, are 7 times as likely to be autistic and 5 times as likely to have ADHD -- also like me.)
Book review #27 for 2024 is Steve Silberman's Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity. A helpful and informative book on the unfolding journey of and...battles with/for, regarding people who interact with their world differently. I found this book to be helpful in understanding the rise of what we today call neurodiversity. āāāā1/2 review. @stevesilberman@books@bookstodon@bookstodon#autism#neurodiversity#books#books2024 #
āThe concept of the āmean understandingā initially took hold because it allowed cognitively enabled people to make sure they had a monopoly on property and the means of production and to begin to frame this as part of a natural hierarchy.ā
Robert Chapman, Empire of Normality, 2023, Pluto Press, p. 39, referencing Simon Jarrett, Those They Called Idiots: The Idea of the Disabled Mind from 1700 to the Present Day, Reaktion Books, 2029, pp. 24-71.