Everyone can't be Autism/ADHD
For the record, I am neither, and I don't claim to be. I also empathize with people who have these disorders and in no way am I saying they aren't real. At the same time, I am a little tired of everyone saying things like "haha its because I'm autistic" or "cant study cause ADHD brain lol," and things to this effect.
If a friend tells me they have autism/ADHD, I don't assume that they are lying and I'm certainly not judging them. At the same time, I have some friends that have never mentioned having autism before until it started becoming "popular" (for lack of a better term) and who make jokes about it whenever there is an awkward social interaction or something. I am not going to tell them they are wrong, because its not my place, but I do think it is disrespectful to actual autistic people to claim you have their disorder for the sake of being funny and relatable.
Trying to better understand yourself is one thing, but latching onto a label and mindset is another. I have to wonder if growing up with ipads and phones ruined our attention spans, and now everything thinks they have ADHD. I've seen a lot of autism and adhd memes/content that I find relatable and funny despite not having either disorder. I feel like if we want to change - have better attention spans, be more confident, etc - then we have to do the work. Certainly a disorder will make this harder, but the general trend seems to be complaining and making jokes rather than actually trying.
Also, I don't love the word "neurotypical." I don't necessarily find it offensive, but I often hear phrases like "neurotypicals will never understand" or "neurotypicals versus autistic people." It really feels like a separation of "us" vs "them," which I feel like contributes to the amount of self diagnosed people who dont want to be part of the "nuerotypical" category. Its become a little hard for me to take the word seriously: Everybody has their own way of thinking and doing, it is not as if all "neurotypicals" think the same way. Much of this "neurodivergent" content is probably made by 'neurotypical' people (if taken to mean people who don't have autism or ADHD).
Not pointing fingers at anyone, and not shitting on people who are trying to better understand themselves. These are just my feelings about the topic in general. I was wondering what other people's thoughts might be