Why is everyone suddenly neurodivergent?

I am Brazilian and my lack of social skills contributed to me being diagnosed early as German

There's definitely a fine line between normalization and romanticization, I've found it helpful to not consider my neurodivergent traits "weird" but it also feels odd to call them especially "good", they just are and I'm just me

At school during the 1960s, I was called lazy. Once, when I did (very) good work, I was asked "who wrote this?" When I answered that I did, I was told "you couldn't have". Then my mother took me to do an IQ test, and they simply refused to believe the result. Saying that I still feel bitter about this after 55 years is a colossal understatement.

"I think that's wrong, I'm really just rude, or German" Wow, that had me in tears.

Sabine’s sarcasm is everything…. “I've been told I'm rude, arrogant, talk like a robot, am about as empathetic as a brick and similarly spontaneous but considerably less social. I think that’s wrong and I’m really just rude or German, but then I repeat myself.”

As a Dad with a 19 yrs old severely autistic son, what happened to him was the paras in school treated him like a boy who just wasn't trying to apply himself.They were confrontational towards him. Made his life and our life hell, until we realized they were ill-equipped to help him. He dramatically improved once we took him out of that special ed class. Wasted two years of his high school, and did major damage to his development. Don't always trust those who say we know best.

In Australia the Intelligence organisation ASIC realised many people with ASD were perfect for Intelligence jobs but were struggling to get past the application process which was based upon traditional hiring processes... so they changed the application process.

I was diagnosed 7 years ago as an adult. I was told that under the new guidelines I have ASD (Autism spectrum disorder) but that under the old guidelines, I would have been considered to have Asperger's, confirming what you said. The specialist who diagnosed me then told me that in about 20 years, there will be no such thing as autism at all because everyone will just be considered "individuals and different". That sounded rather stupid to me as a lot of people with autism need extra help with certain things. I could have definitely done with more support when I was younger, I can tell you. So I'm not sure what to believe anymore. I feel that yet again, politics has crept into healthcare and does not favours to anyone in the process.

Not long ago, left handed people were ostracized. I'm ambidextrous and was forced to use just my right hand in elementary school. Some of my teachers would literally get pissed off when I'd go lefty. It's interesting observing how perspectives change.

Sabine belatedly finding out she might possibly be autistic in the process of researching a video about autism is HIGHLY relatable. 🤣 For me it was looking up articles to figure out how to be a better friend to my several friends who are officially diagnosed, reading over the descriptions of symptoms and going "WAIT A MINUTE"

I got diagnosed at 24 and have also worked with people with autism (mostly "high functioning"). In my (limited) experience only those who are considered "rude" are able to hold down a regular job for a long period of time . Those who can mask well are generally so anxious and exhausted all the time they have trouble functioning. Masking is such a tiring activity while also so well integrated we can't turn it off anymore. There may be a middle ground, but it seems more like a scale to me. More masking, less energy. I'm not a researcher or a doctor, but I have serious doubts that diagnosing kids at a young age and teaching them to mask better is doing anyone any favors. I'm not against giving children with autism extra assistance, but too many of them seem to focus on "how to appear neurotypical". It's like teaching depressed people how to smile more.

I love your dry humour, and I can`t detect any rudeness. You have a way of speaking, which makes it easy for me to follow your content. Thank you, Sabine.

I was gaslit all my years to believe there’s nothing wrong with me when there clearly was. Because I “look” and “seem” normal. Now in the process of getting an ASD diagnosis after a massive meltdown and I’ve jumped from therapist to therapist until my current one noticed the signs right away because she works a lot with ASD people. She was the first to take me seriously and not push my symptoms to anxiety, depression and such. I even told a previous screening therapist that I suspected I have ASD but she brushed it off, whilst my current noticed it within the first 5 minutes of talking to me and helped me with the referral. Just because people seem normal, doesn’t change the internal struggles we face every single day.

"I'm not autistic, I'm just German" is simulataneously the funniest and most depressing thing I've heard in a while. I swear a little part of me dies inside every single time I hear one of my younger coworkers say "Oh that person's got to be on the spectrum, they have [insert arbitrary trait here]"

I'm 64 and still waiting for a diagnosis after a year on the waiting list and a lifetime of wondering what the hell was wrong with me. Others I talk to online have waited up to 5 years, so I can completely understand why people self-diagnose. I've reached I point where I don't really need anyone to tell me I'm autistic (but it would be good for closure, and to help relatives understand more). Far from romanticizing it, I'd say it's had a severely negative and disabling effect on my life. I'd even go so far as to say it's pretty much ruined it. If I could take a pill that would eliminate the constant burnout, shutdowns (which are absolutely hellish, especially if you don't have a name for it), problems with relationships, work (and therefore money), I'd take it in a flash.

For a "rude" person, she has an awful lot of fans and friends. I think she's charming

I remember a lot of the problem us folks on the spectrum have with Autism Speaks is that they don't exactly have a sterling record, namely that they made a number of productions in the past which mainly went out of their way to paint us as a burden on everyone else, as well as them (at least at one point) advocating to a full-blown cure to Autism as if it were cancer. This struck a nerve with a lot of people because to them, this was AS seeing them as a problem to be fixed rather than different people to be helped and welcomed.

I worked in a school for children with Autism and Down's Syndrome. While doing some flashcard math with a 6 year old child sitting across his desk from me wrote the answers upside down and backwards so I could read them.

Sabine, I'm a social worker specialized in autism since 2000. You have made one of the best presentation of autism I have ever heard. Good job!!!

I went to Brisbane (Australia) last year to work over winter, and I was surprised to discover 80% of men at my work claimed to be neurodivergent. I was chatting to an intelligent person outside work who studied psychology as part of her master's degree, and she explained that therapists and psychologists in Australia just want to make money off these neurodivergent tests, treatments and therapy sessions, so they basically tell everyone they're neurodivergent so they can profit of it!