Neurodiversity?

I have a tendency to make comments on FWD/Forward that aren’t completely on topic and then they don’t get posted and I feel incredibly guilty and anxious about it. It’s true I feel incredibly guilty and anxious about everything that could be construed as a social mistake, but come on, let’s try to avoid it in this particular arena by just making posts on my blog when I’m tempted to comment in an off-topic way! First up: neurodiversity.

I don’t understand what the point of the term neurodiversity is. Someone on the FWD/Forward thread mentioned “many ASD people don’t know that neurodiversity includes other, non-ASD people with different brains.” Which is like...I guess it’s cool that it’s not just ASD people (even if some ASD people think it is) but what’s wrong with just saying “disability rights,” or “autism/ASD rights” if you’re talking about ASD in particular? Wouldn’t disability rights be more inclusive if you’re trying to be inclusive, and if you are focusing on ASD, wouldn’t ASD rights be a more unambiguous and straightforward way to put it?

It just occurred to me that the point of neurodiversity is, maybe, a catchier way to say “non-physical disability rights.” That actually makes sense. It still sort of grates on my nerves because it sounds incredibly cheery, like “differently abled.” Also I’m not sure if that’s what people actually use it for.

The term just makes me uncomfortable. It seems like an attempt to separate ASD people from other disabled people. Or, if not just ASD, disabilities that have a stereotype of Awesome Side Effects that are supposed to make up for the deficits--ADD, depression, bipolar disorder, etc. This is emphasized for me by the term neurodiversity itself. Diversity is a term that has been frequently used in reference to race, ethnicity, religion, class, and sometimes sexual orientation. Disability is being set up as the same as all those things. “We’re the same as you, just leave us alone and we’ll be fine.” But sometimes we won’t be fine. We need help sometimes. Sometimes our impairments are socially constructed (like stimming) but other times we really are worse at doing something that would help us (like processing and using language). I don’t think the difference between PWDs and other minority groups is so huge that we can’t be inspired and encouraged by the way other groups fight for equality, but at the same time, we can’t be fit into exactly the same “live and let live” model. (Actually I’d argue that it’s not a good model for many minority groups. But I’m tangling myself up.)

I feel the same about the explanation of neurodiversity (said by one of the FWD/Forward commenters, I think) as “people have different brains and that’s okay.” This just seems disingenuous. I’m not different, I’m IMPAIRED. And there are people who are a lot more impaired than me who have a lot more to fear than I do from the idea of disability as a neutral "difference."

I don’t know, I might be tilting at windmills, or at the very least semantics (there’s no question that many people I admire and agree with identify with neurodiversity). What do you think?