The term “neurodiversity” is everywhere lately, and it’s being used in ways that appear to be progressive, but underneath, are really just the same old pathology paradigm re-packaged.
Criticisms of its improper usage mostly focus on grammar — a person cannot be neurodiverse, that is a word that describes a group. An individual should be called neurodivergent. But these are superficial and far less concerning to me than the distortion of the term conceptually.
Discussing autism, ADHD, and dyslexia, this Forbes article claims the term neurodiversity was created to “shift the focus from the negative connotation of these conditions toward the positive,” a statement that waters the entire concept down into a floppy milquetoast version of its former self.