Something I wish all the special ed teachers and therapists and other caregivers for autistic and ADHD people understood is this:
When we get supports and accommodations, that doesn't put us on equal terms with the neuromajority. It doesn't make our problems go away or fix us or even make us able to compete fairly with our peers. It merely lets us cope and survive in a world that is ill suited for us. Thriving is a whole other matter.
I've known people who should know better who think that if they give an ND student some band-aid accommodations they won't have problems in class anymore, and they'll be able to teach the ND students just like all their NT peers. All while the classroom is tuned to engage NT attention while leaving ND students out in the cold. Managers who think giving ND employees a quiet room to retreat to when they get overwhelmed is sufficient, while scheduling back-to-back meetings without agendas or note-takers and forcing us to do traumatizing team bonding exercises that rely on NT intuitions. Etc etc etc.
NT people don't understand, and don't seem to care to understand. It seems they mostly want us to follow their norms and ways of doing things, and the only help they'll give us is to encourage us to conform to their world.
It breaks my heart every day how many of us never get a real crack at the good life, and for no reason except the neuromajority can't be bothered to make space for anyone different.
#ActuallyAutistic #ActuallyADHD #neurodivergent
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