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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 8668412" data-attributes="member: 59082">Yes, I totally hear you on this, and understand the usefulness--even solace--of such labels. But they also can be restrictive, and produce negative results (e.g. people seeing you as the label/identity before the human being). That's why I see the labelling as a necessary transitional stage towards the more idealistic future that I envision where such things will be unnecessary or, at the least, more malleable and less defining. Or maybe this is my Buddhist upbringing, in which who we are is ultimately undefinable - beyond any labels or identities (that is, pure awareness).I mean, in such a world, such a concept as "neurodivergence" is unnecessary because the nature of human beings is diverse. Or, at least, it can be reframed as the very natural array of colors that the human species expresses itself as - whether neurodivergence, sexuality, gender identity, ideology, personality, etc etc.I have found this with my eldest daughter, who is on the autistic spectrum (mild) and her neurodivergence offers as many gifts to the world as it does challenges for her. While she struggles with social cues and making friends, she also lacks guile and is also extremely honest -- which the world could use a lot more of! She also has a child-like enthusiasm that many find refreshing and joyous, and I think it would be a shame if people saw this as "because of" her neurodivergence. So while I understand that, according to the DSM and that general paradigm of thinking, she can be labeled as this or that, such a label shouldn't define her. The label can provide benefits - of skills she can learn, communities she can be part of - but it also shouldn't define her as a human being. Meaning, I dislike the idea that "She's honest because she's neurodivergent" rather than "She's honest - that's part of who she is." A subtle but crucial difference.I also come at this from my studies in mental health counseling. I liked my Abnormal Psychology professor's approach: He continually said, "You don't have to believe the labels, but you have to understand it for practical purposes." He was a Jungian psychologist and disliked the conventional paradigm of diagnosis, but still recognized the importance of understanding it for, if nothing else, insurance purposes. I mean, we do have to live in the world we find ourselves in - yet at the same time, push for the most beautiful world we can imagine.</blockquote>

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