I was watching a true crime documentary and the narrator said the victim’s young son “had a mild form of neurodivergence” and had to go to a special school. Hey, just say AUTISM!
The term “neurodivergence” could mean one of several conditions such as ADHD and Tourette’s syndrome.
It’s not likely that the young boy had to go to a special needs school if all he had was ADHD, Tourette’s or dyslexia.
So I’m assuming that this “mild form of neurodivergence” was autism.
But even if it were just ADHD, why didn’t the show’s writer have the narrator say the actual diagnosis?
It’s 2026. Why is the media still tiptoeing around disclosing specific diagnoses in cases when HIPAA doesn’t apply?
No, the mother of this boy didn’t direct the narrator; unfortunately, she was murdered by her business partner.
I can only assume (and you know this is by far the most likely scenario) that the director of the episode was afraid that using “autism” would be offensive.
Just how in the heck will autism ever be accepted when people are still afraid to say autism?
But society is getting better, though. Usually, “has autism” is used all throughout the media.
To describe the boy as having “a mild form of neurodivergence” is a veil for feeling awkward about mentioning autism. This is not how to drive home the acceptance of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Society has come a long way, however, in terms of ASD awareness and the push to make it more acceptable, but we also still have a long way to go.
We live in a wayward society that’s been attempting to normalize morbid obesity. Just check out TikTok and Instagram if you want proof of this.
There are influencers with very large followings who want people to believe that morbid obesity is a safe way for the human body to exist, that there’s no such thing as obesity-driven disease processes.
Yet at the same time, autism at times seems to be less accepted than morbid obesity resulting from significant overconsumption of food.
We need to keep pounding out the acceptance of autism, not just the awareness.
