Neurodivergent people are never undiagnosed. We are misdiagnosed. Our symptoms don't go unnoticed, and people will always attribute them to some sort of cause. They'll just attribute them to personality and blame the individual for their symptoms.
For example. My autism is not undiagnosed, it's been misdiagnosed as "too sensitive," "awkward," "rude," "obsessive," and "too intense." My brother's adhd wasn't undiagnosed, it was misdiagnosed as "lazy," "impulsive," "annoying," and "can't seem to get any work done."
Growing up without a diagnosis is growing up believing that you are to blame for your differentness. Your symptoms are a personality flaw. You are diagnosed by everyone around you as "weird."
Edit: Some people have pointed out that I'm using the word misdiagnosis here rather loosely. I'm aware that it isn't quite correct definitionally, and I don't mean to say that medical misdiagnosis and the type of social misattribution I'm talking about are identical--just that they are related phenomena, and neurodivergent people are often victims of one or both. There isn't an exact term for what I'm talking about here, so I used the closest one I knew of. Terminology is important and some words need to be used with precision to retain their influence. At the same time, sometimes meanings change, and bending words to fit new circumstances is a natural way that language evolves. I'm not sure which situation this falls under, so while I don't want to change my post (not even sure what to change it to), I thought I'd edit and add clarification. Additional feedback on this is welcome.
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TOApril Day 8 – Moonlight's Reflection
Imagine thinking your brother is a scatterbrained fool for four thousand years and then having your view of him shattered through one simple song
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Angsty musing of the night : Aventio/Ratiorine Soulmate AU where Ratio is oblivious to the real identity of his soulmate because the name written on his wrist isn't Aventurine, but Kakavasha. Aventurine, on the other hand, is perfectly aware that they're soulmates, but stays silent about it because he is so damn scared Ratio will suffer the same fate as his family if he starts getting attached to him.
(Then Ratio discovers the truth, either through deduction or by learning Aventurine's birth name, and finds just the right words to convince Aventurine that it's safe for them to be together, because I cannot stand unhappy endings, especially when it comes to those two)
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