All the Neurodivergent TikTokers are Frauds. I am the True Neurodivergent.
This post contains lethal doses of sarcasm if read irresponsibly
Riding public transit as a neurodivergent person is a daily reminder of how I operate outside the hivemind of mainstream society. I don’t want to go to work today or any other day because I am depressed and I have ADHD and I also haven’t answered emails from my manager in four days due to my crippling anxiety. I’m an expert on this topic.
It’s disgusting to see people on TikTok mislabel themselves in a cringe attempt to offload responsibility for their personal shortcomings. They are desperate to hide behind a shield, craving to renounce their agency.
I recently discovered I have autism spectrum disorder, and it’s hella annoying to see these people brag about how neurodivergent and quirky they are because they like architectural history and hate going outside. Everybody’s neurodivergent until it’s time to talk about locomotive wheel configurations. “Trauma made me funny…” Shut the FUCK up and let’s discuss French Cold War military strategy and jet engine thrust reverser designs.
You love to see the contrast between extremely well-put-together girls on Twitter who list autistic in their bio alongside their various other disabilities and qualifications, and autistic guys with unkempt hair in stretch pants whose posts are all about Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and wet emojis in response to cosplay thots. I wish today’s young woman would stand on the windy subway grate in a white dress to measure the speed of travel of the Bombardier T1 during an unprecedented water main repair.
I would love to sterilize life of any marginally uncomfortable experience, but I have to conform to their world, the one where everyone on this subway is glaring at me with contempt and bewilderment, like they had woken up to me standing at the foot of their bed and I had just suggested we murder their loved ones and run away together. They look at me like I do not exist in her world; but here I am, and they do not know what to do with me. Everyone around me is like this and that’s why they can’t understand me.
Yes, I acknowledge I’m taking a shit on the foldable handicap seat. Everyone around me should know I am an ally trying to empower the person with cerebral palsy to stand on their own and learn resilience in the face of abrupt braking.