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> There's a long history of silencing and rendering invisible the identities of disabled people I've been diagnosed with both ADHD and autism. You would call t

> There's a long history of silencing and rendering invisible the identities of disabled people I've been diagnosed with both ADHD and autism. You would call that an identity; I would not, and find the idea patently offensive. > Putting one's disabilities up-front in a profile bio challenges both of these norms, and announcing one's "distaste" reinforces them. There's an inherent pathology in cataloguing your potential limitations (or your self-image of them) as a form of public introduction.

danShumway 5y ago
I don't have a problem with anyone who doesn't want to think of ADHD or autism as a part of their identity. I don't have a problem with anyone who feels strongly about it. People who don't like that kind of categorization should be respected. But I do have a problem with saying that other people can't view those categories as a part of their identity or talk about them, or that it's a pathology or weakness for someone to view something that has affected their brain their entire lives as being a contributing factor to who they are. Live and let live, people's understanding and internalization of disability can often be drastically different from other people's. This is something that pops up in almost every community of people with disabilities; just off the top of my head, I've seen fierce debate about this from deaf communities. If it upsets and offends you to hear someone call ADHD/autism a part of your identity, it also upsets and offends people who have come to terms with themselves in different ways than you to be told that they have a pathology for thinking of themselves differently. Identity itself is a fuzzy word that different people approach in different ways; it isn't rigorously defined, and it is actually possible to give both sides of the identity/attribute debate space to breathe and to consider their identity in the way that's most helpful for them personally. I think it's unhelpful to punch down on people for having different experiences.

danShumway 5y ago

I don't have a problem with anyone who doesn't want to think of ADHD or autism as a part of their identity. I don't have a problem with anyone who feels strongly about it. People who don't like that kind of categorization should be respected. But I do have a problem with saying that other people can't view those categories as a part of their identity or talk about them, or that it's a pathology or weakness for someone to view something that has affected their brain their entire lives as being a contributing factor to who they are. Live and let live, people's understanding and internalization of disability can often be drastically different from other people's. This is something that pops up in almost every community of people with disabilities; just off the top of my head, I've seen fierce debate about this from deaf communities. If it upsets and offends you to hear someone call ADHD/autism a part of your identity, it also upsets and offends people who have come to terms with themselves in different ways than you to be told that they have a pathology for thinking of themselves differently. Identity itself is a fuzzy word that different people approach in different ways; it isn't rigorously defined, and it is actually possible to give both sides of the identity/attribute debate space to breathe and to consider their identity in the way that's most helpful for them personally. I think it's unhelpful to punch down on people for having different experiences.