|| First published: | Last edited: || 📚🕒 Reading Time: 2 minutes Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against people with physical or mental disabilities.
In an ableist society, it’s assumed that the “normal” way to live is as a non-disabled person and that every disabled person needs to or wants to “get rid of” their condition.
Ableism includes discrimination against neurodivergent individuals as well.
Barriers neurodivergent individuals face in an ableist society
Missing or incorrect diagnosis
Underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis are still common. Dated stereotypes mean many people fall through the cracks and are refused support because they don’t “look autistic” or do not present their ADHD in a stereotypical way. Even when someone insists on getting diagnosed, their adaptations and masking are not always taken into consideration, and neurodivergent adults are often dismissed or even denied assessments.
Not having access to the support they need means individuals are left to struggle on their own, often believing their difficulties are their own fault. They will have difficulty breaking out of a vicious circle of trying and failing and thus will be unable to achieve their goals and meet their needs of belonging, acceptance, and living a full human experience.
Mental Health Issues
Lack of support, harmful stereotypes, stigma and neglect can lead to or exacerbate depression and anxiety.
Often when people ask for help, a professional not well-versed in neurodivergence or learning difficulties can mistake their struggles as a classic case of generalised anxiety or major depressive disorder when in reality, the mental health issues on the surface mask the underlying cause of neurodivergence and unmet needs relating to that.
Professionals missing the signs of underlying conditions can, in the worst-case scenario, trap people in endless maintenance of surface-level non-solutions, and prevent long-term progress from happening.
Discrimination and oppression
Harmful views, prejudice and ignorance can hold back individuals from accessing the support they need and living a fulfilling life. It also affects social mobility: discrimination can lead to worse educational outcomes and restricted access to work opportunities and promotions, and this, in turn, hinders individuals from improving their quality of life and stabilising their financial situation.
Related terms
Neuroaffirming
Neuroaffirming or neuro-affirmative refers to practices, approaches, or environments that recognize and affirm the neurodiversity of society and the neurodivergence of individuals.
Spiritual bypassing
Spiritual bypassing is a dismissive behaviour, meaning the use of spiritual explanations to dismiss, diminish or avoid dealing with complicated emotions, uncomfortable experiences or facing the complex and often harsh realities of life. It’s part magical thinking and part toxic positivity.
Penguin pebbling
Penguin pebbling is a term derived from the behaviour of Adélie penguins who meticulously collect and arrange pebbles to build their nests.
In a neurodivergent context, the expression is used to describe a common neurodivergent behaviour of people collecting and giving loved items to others – "this made me think of you, I think you’ll like this, I thought this was pretty and I want you to have it".
Internalised ableism
Internalised ableism is a psychological construct that refers to the internalisation of negative beliefs, stereotypes, and prejudices about disabilities that are prevalent in society.
It involves self-stigmatization and the development of a negative self-concept based on one’s disability and onboarding negative beliefs said to us by parental figures, teachers, grown-ups and society in general.
Double empathy
The double empathy problem is a concept in neurodiversity studies that suggests a mutual misunderstanding between neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals.
It states that the perceived social communication deficits in neurodivergent people may not be due to an inherent impairment, but rather a reciprocal lack of understanding or empathy between different neurotypes.
This theory challenges the traditional deficit model of neurodivergence, emphasizing that empathy is a two-way process, and both parties bear responsibility for successful communication.
Curb-cut effect
The curb-cut effect refers to the phenomenon that policies initially created to serve a marginalized group end up serving a much more significant portion of society, benefiting even more people than it was originally designed for.
