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How often have you heard someone remark, “He's a little ADD" or “She's being super OCD" or “She's definitely on the spectrum"?
Diagnostic terms like “autistic," “ADD" (attention-deficit disorder), “ADHD" (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and “OCD" (obsessive compulsive disorder) have become commonly used descriptors for a host of quirks and unusual personality traits. And while many of us have only a crude understanding of what these terms mean, we often have no problem applying them wi...

Terms such as “neurodiverse” and “neurodivergent” were introduced in the 1990s by autistic sociologist Judy Singer as an alternative to deficit-based language, such as “disorder.” Singer highlighted notable strengths of many individuals in the autistic population that include abilities to focus, recognize patterns, and remember factual information. A “neurodivergent” person refers to a person on the autism spectrum or, more generally, to someone whose brain processes information in a way that is...