FYI, My actual opinion on this:
Almost all people seem to have neurological differences that deviate from “the norm”, turns out the brain is much more dynamic then previously thought. While we can make generalizations for example:
“The Cerebral cortex Broca area play a big role in speech function and is located in the frontal part of the left hemisphere of the brain” However we know that for at least a small portion of left handen people it isn’t and these same functions are instead performed in the right hemisphere. Which is not a recognized disability nor carries a neurological label but will ultimately still have some effect on the persons behavior and functioning.
I believe tiny deviations from the “default blueprint” are a normal part of nature and one of the drivers of evolution but also some disabilities.
When a person has enough connections that deviate from the norm (or simple a few extreme deviations) they may react completely different to the norms people have so long sought to standardize as they where building the social structures of society. And we have tried to standardize those people under a list of labels/disabilities.
I am personally a huge fan of the term neurodivergent which originated from within the autistic community and i did contemplate using jt here. It says as much as “different from the norm” without assuming it to be a net negative which is the case for the names of disabilities.
I do find the term autism is still a good well understood tool to refer to neurodivergent traits that are commonly seen and understood with those that society recognizes as autistic like myself. For example taking information more literally and struggling with subtext and coded languages.
To conclude, in absolutely agree with you. All people can have neurological connections that cause mis-understanding. Often its a case of finding the people that have brains compatible with your own. (Not necessarily similar brain) but in the context i did think my use of “autistic” was the best way to provide information. Some people who don’t recognize a term as neurodivergent may still be searching for answers about their own brain after all.
