Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.
Political correctness has got to be the fastest moving industry in America right now. Sometimes, I don't know if I should explain issues with updated terminology, especially if I already explained my concerns.
I have vented about why I hate discussions relating to special needs. In recent years, I have heard more about people who are neurodivergent. Neurodivergence is more specifically discussing the mental side of things, but that was always my primary concern with special needs. My arguments are going to be pretty much the same, but I feel that the popularity of this terminology justifies writing about it.
Why do I hate the idea that some students have special needs? It's because of individuality. All students are unique. They all have special needs.
The idea of neurodivergent students leads to the exact same problem. All students are unique. All students will have at least some degree of neurodivergence.
There is one thing that seems to stand out as different between neurodivergent students and students with special needs. Neurodivergence has come with a corresponding term for people who are not considered neurodivergent. The majority is thought of as neurotypical. As someone who embraces individuality, I don't want to hear unique minds referred to as neurotypical.
You could certainly argue that it's easier to embrace a classification of neurodivergent than having special needs. When given a choice between being classified as neurodivergent or neurotypical, what kind of moron would want to be classified as neurotypical? I know I don't want to be thought of in such a derogatory manner.
The bottom line is that referring to some people as neurodivergent completely diminishes what makes individuals unique. Much like we all have special needs, we are all neurodivergent. Nobody should ever be labeled as neurotypical. That's one word that I would prefer to never hear again.
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