Thread by @ekverstania

I'm probably fighting a losing battle here, but DIVERSITY is a characteristic of items in a GROUP.

A single item can't be diverse (if you're looking at one trait).

Example:
"The biodiversity in this park is amazing!" = "There are many species in the park."

Hence, neurodiversity means neurological diversity WITHIN A POPULATION.

It doesn't mean, "I'm different from most people."

If you diverge from the norm, you're DIVERGENT, not DIVERSE.

Neurodiversity: Some basic terms and definitions

neurocosmopolitanism.com/neurodiversity…

I get people saying, "OMG, who are you to judge! That isn't the only article."

Nah, it just happens to be one that respects etymology; and Judy Singer coined the word 'neurodiversity' so she gets a say too.

But, hey, accurate speeching not essence cos I understood aftrall. 🙄

Example of correct usage (am I allowed to use the word 'correct', or is that politically incorrect now?):
twitter.com/FDMorg

And on the subject of diversity, Spanish has a concept of 'functional diversity' which English doesn't have as standard, and I wish it did, because currently the word 'disability' is often used for this concept in addition to being used to mean disability, and it's confusing.

According to the social model of disability, disability relies on the idea that society systemically disables people who have impairments or perceived impairments.

So when people say they're 'proudly disabled', I hear, "I'm proud that society marginalises people like me," which I am pretty sure isn't their intent!

'Functional diversity' is a term that works for me in the same way that 'neurodiversity' works: it just means there are all sorts of bodies and minds that work differently from one another.

The irony of all this is that the term 'neurodiversity' has been so wholly abused that I am loath to even use it nowadays, because of all the dirt it has picked up.

On the one extreme I have had people kick me out of a sensory overload support group because I actually treat myself for this medical problem, and they think I should just accept it, like it's my holy 'true natural self'.

tania.co.za/sensory-overlo…

Yeah, my true self has a medical problem. Like, what happens if your true natural self has a congenital kidney problem, are you gonna go for dialysis or just explode because you 'accept' yourself? 🤦‍♀️

On the other extreme, there are the people who (bizarrely) say that the idea of neurodiversity doesn't respect people with profound disabilities (especially 'severe autism'), and therefore we should prevent them from being born RATHER THAN giving them access to communication.

In fact, they will go to great lengths to vandalise, discredit, destroy and remove access to communication for nonspeaking autistic people, working hard to ensure that nonspeakers will never communicate effectively.

https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1165593126700036096?s=19

And so, with 'neurodiversity' now being such a widely misused term, I prefer to just call myself a 'disability activist'. Regardless of what model of disability people are using, it gives them a better idea of what I do.

Some of my focus areas for advocacy (video series):

https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1126067750860775425?s=19

Priorities for 2021:

https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1353291178574303233?s=19