The Neurodiversity Movement Needs To Be More Inclusive

Many Autistic people believe in accepting different neurotypes such as Autism, dyslexia and AD(H)D as a way a person's brain is wired and not a disease that needs to be cured or something that needs to be fixed.  This is known as the neurodiversity movement.

That said, I think the neurodiversity movement needs to be more inclusive.

For one thing, there is not a lot of room for different opinions when it comes to Autism Acceptance.  If your opinions differ from the majority of a neurodiversity group, they will harshly criticize you for it. We cannot allow this.

Case in point, I was in a Facebook group for Autistic adults, and two people in the group had puzzle pieces as their profile pictures.  Now, many Autistic people don't like the puzzle piece to represent Autism because they believe that it means that they're something that needs to be solved, like a puzzle.  The infinity symbol is preferred instead to represent neurodiversity.  The two people with the puzzle-piece profile pictures were criticized by another group member.  Personally, I'm ok with both symbols, but everyone has their own preferences.

Another problem with the neurodiversity concept is that there are not enough voices of people who are Black, Latino/a, Asian, Native American,  LGBTQ, lower-income, women, mentally ill people or trauma survivors.  As a Black, Queer, Autistic mentally ill woman who has been through trauma, I feel like my voice is being silenced by people who aren't as marginalized as I am, although I'm sure that this is not their intention.  We need to allow more marginalized groups to speak out on their experiences too.

In order for the neurodiversity movement to be truly accepting of everyone, these changes will have to take place.  Neurodiversity should be an accommodating concept for everyone, not a clique or a cult.