Diversities and divergence's

TheCatWoman said:

one thing that puzzles me is English Literature, ND women are supposed to really enjoy English literature, like Jane Austen

I haven’t heard that. Do you mean most or some women with dyslexia, or ADHD, or ASD, or OCD etc., enjoy English Literature? I have read that the perception is that autistic people are more into STEM subjects, but that might have been from the time when it was mostly males who were diagnosed. I have also also read about some autistic women enjoying English Literature, although I don’t recall Jane Austin being mentioned in that context. I imagine that dyslexic women could struggle to read, but would that mean they couldn’t enjoy reading Jane Austin or anything else? Would they be restricted to reading only short pieces of texts or perhaps they listen to the audio books? Have there been studies?

Girls are around twice as likely as boys to study ‘A’ level English Literature, so presumably they enjoy it, but the figures don’t account for ND.

TheCatWoman said:

With the greater awareness of ND, are we in danger of becoming typecast and if we diverge to much or in unexpected ways, will we become something else, a whole new diagnostic things just for us?

I mightn’t have grasped what you mean. Can you elaborate please? If you are referring to autistic people, we are already typecast and it will continue, which is why it is important that the media is balanced when highlighting autism. The positive portrayal of Cat Burns who is autistic and ADHD, in the TV programme Traitors set a good example.

Growing up, I was more into animals than people, I wasn’t particularly domesticated and I was a tomboy. I failed most things at school, married in my 30s because it was expected, studied at university, divorced, more study and ended up being considered a high achiever in my chosen subject. I look for evidence when reading and listening to media reports and news and I am not taken in by conspiracy theories. Why on earth should I believe nonsense from unknown sources on social media when there is evidence from multiple different sources illustrating why the conspiracy isn’t genuine.

‘Diversities and divergences’ aren’t medically diagnosed, they are social constructs. It is likely that the DSM diagnostic criteria for autism will be revised at some stage. The medical people are listening more to autistic people and they are learning more of our experiences than they used to. I would hope that the people who set the criteria for autism would be listening to us too. 

TheCatWoman said in a post below: ArchaeC, I read somewhere or other that ND women and girls are more likely to read and enjoy English Literature, such as Jane Austin, I can' tremember where I read it, but it was during some of my researches into ND women. 

I do agree that lots of ND people are into STEM subjects, but then everybody seems to be being pushed in that direction, but ND people being good at STEM subjects could also be a way of type casting ND people, what of those of us who aren't? What of those of us who are more into the Humanities? I think it's leading to a situation where technology is being shunted onto us, because thats what is expected, we're supposed to shun human contact, so shoving tech at us makes governments seem like their doing something, regardless of whether it's appropriate or wanted or if we know how to use it.

I supose what I mean by typecast is that the most common traits are picked up on and catered for at the expense of the less common, this will lead to questions about how to catagorise us and I believe will cause more division and bigger alphabets of acronyms following us about, an even biger need to explain ourselves. For example, I was told that I couldn't be dyslexic because I'm terrible at maths and everyone who struggles with words is good at maths as a sort of compensatory thing.

Black and white thinking is supposed to be an ND trait, what happens to those who don't think that way, are we not ND, are we a different kind of ND all of our own.? 

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I think I read somewhere that it used to be thought autistic people wouldn’t read novels for enjoyment, but that some autistic girls and women have shown this not to be the case. It’s interesting about Jane Austin. I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and some of her other novels a long time ago. 

I don’t believe that the humanities will be done away with, so people who feel they wish to pursue those subjects will always have options, reduced though they may be. 

Regarding black and white thinking and people such as yourself, the ND movement has been a response to the very discriminatory things you outline. Ignorance and prejudice will always be with us, but I do believe there is wider acceptance of the diverse nature of dyslexia, autism, ADHD etc. 

TheCatWoman said in a post below: ArchaeC, I read somewhere or other that ND women and girls are more likely to read and enjoy English Literature, such as Jane Austin, I can' tremember where I read it, but it was during some of my researches into ND women. 

I do agree that lots of ND people are into STEM subjects, but then everybody seems to be being pushed in that direction, but ND people being good at STEM subjects could also be a way of type casting ND people, what of those of us who aren't? What of those of us who are more into the Humanities? I think it's leading to a situation where technology is being shunted onto us, because thats what is expected, we're supposed to shun human contact, so shoving tech at us makes governments seem like their doing something, regardless of whether it's appropriate or wanted or if we know how to use it.

I supose what I mean by typecast is that the most common traits are picked up on and catered for at the expense of the less common, this will lead to questions about how to catagorise us and I believe will cause more division and bigger alphabets of acronyms following us about, an even biger need to explain ourselves. For example, I was told that I couldn't be dyslexic because I'm terrible at maths and everyone who struggles with words is good at maths as a sort of compensatory thing.

Black and white thinking is supposed to be an ND trait, what happens to those who don't think that way, are we not ND, are we a different kind of ND all of our own.? 

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I think I read somewhere that it used to be thought autistic people wouldn’t read novels for enjoyment, but that some autistic girls and women have shown this not to be the case. It’s interesting about Jane Austin. I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and some of her other novels a long time ago. 

I don’t believe that the humanities will be done away with, so people who feel they wish to pursue those subjects will always have options, reduced though they may be. 

Regarding black and white thinking and people such as yourself, the ND movement has been a response to the very discriminatory things you outline. Ignorance and prejudice will always be with us, but I do believe there is wider acceptance of the diverse nature of dyslexia, autism, ADHD etc.