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reedf1 an hour ago

I was recently labelled neurodivergent by a colleague at work, as far as I can tell this is simply because I am good with numbers and don't like parties. I'm not sure how I feel about this, I wouldn't say I am Autistic or show any representative characteristics.

cardanome 40 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Autism or well any form of neurodivergence are about how you work on the inside. It is not possible to observe how a person behaves and just diagnose someone. That is why getting a diagnosis is a whole process involving a trained professional.

Your colleague is full of shit. Generally, neurodivergence is for everyone who regularly experiences that the way their brain works causes them trouble.

Self diagnosis is surprisingly accurate but people also tend to under estimate the severity of their symptoms.

ACCount37 19 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

Or so you think. Humans aren't any good at that whole "self-awareness" thing.

Even the "no empathy" sociopaths can spend decades thinking that they're perfectly normal, everyone is like them, and people just pretend to be sad and grieving at the funerals because that's some kind of established convention and breaking it would be very rude.

What I'm saying is: maybe you just think you don't show any signs of autism - because you think your experience is "normal", and you think that everyone has the same struggles as you do, even when it isn't true.

Or maybe you genuinely aren't autistic at all! It's just very, very hard to say at a glance.