(We're sure a lot of the people reading this post will already know this, but we're writing this FAO for those across the fediverse who do not already know )

A common error that we keep seeing recently is people describing neurodivergent people as being neurodiverse. Whilst these words may look similar, they have vastly different meanings and uses.

Neurodiverse describes the diversity of different neurotypes within a group of people. This is a very specific term and isn't commonly used outside of academia.

A person cannot, by definition, be neurodiverse.

A neurodivergent person might have / be:

• Autism / autistic.
• ADHD.
• AuDHD (autistic and ADHD).
• Dyslexia / dyslexic.
• Dyspraxia / dyspraxic.
• Dyscalculia / dyscalculic.
• Dysgraphia / dysgraphic.
• OCD.
• Tourette's.

Anyone who isn't neurodivergent is neurotypical.

Neurotypical is a catch-all term to describe any person whose cognitive abilities and responses to social cues fall within the expected "norms" of their society.

There's no universal definition for neurotypical that works for all people across all societies, all cultures, and all languages: it's merely the best descriptive term we have for now.

As a last note, the term neurospicy is an amusing alternative to neurodivergent used by some folks 🌶️

#neurodivergent #neurodiverse #autism #autistic#ADHD #AuDHD #neurospicy