When students and I talk about why disabled people may or may not choose to undergo formal evaluative testing, we often focus on financial access. But as I process my practically free ADHD assessment I'm most distraught by the linguistic violence in these deficit-based reports.
I expected joy--or at least validation--when I received my long-suspected diagnosis. But this process was dehumanizing, exhausting, and entirely rooted in narratives of normalcy. I shouldn't be surprised by this. The medical model is nothing new. And yet the report shook me.
I am trying to imagine what it would be like to receive this report at 18 or 22 or at any point before I found my disabled community. Today, I was able to call @JillianWeise to witness as I processed this medical narrative. Before, this would feel incredibly isolating.
I don't think I regret taking this step, but it does make me reconsider the ways I talk about diagnosis. And it furthers my commitment to including ample stories about neurodiversity into Disability Studies curriculum.
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