The definition of a neurodivergent person is someone who’s brain chemistry is different to what a “normal” person’s is.Overtime, the perception of neurodivergent people has gotten better, however in society. Has society been overlooking neurodivergent women? Or neurodivergence specifically. Let’s ask Pari Krishna, a student who happens to be atypical. I asked Pari a few questions concerning her livelihood after having been diagnosed and whether life has taken an easier or more difficult turn.
What is your diagnosis?
P: ADHD, OCD.
How has your neurodivergency affected your daily living?
P: Because of my ADHD It’s very easy to get distracted leading to issues with specific tasks or losing track of time and staying up late because of it. It also resulted in me procrastinating and with projects that involved deadlines, it caused trouble for me because it led to issues of not being able to effectively schedule my day and be productive. It’s hard for me to focus on class discussions, and I sometimes miss important things. As for my OCD, I often get lost in my thoughts. For me, some actions have a specific order, for example: If i have to put away something before I put it away I wash my hands. Another thing is me recounting and categorizing items. Sometimes I start to spiral emotionally and feel like I'm going through an existential crisis, so it’s difficult to act normal whilst they happen.
Do you feel like you’ve been allocated the right resources for your diagnosis?
P: My therapist was hesitant to prescribe me with medicine as they thought it “dulls”a certain part of your brain, since my ADHD isn’t debilitating to the extent where I can’t function, we’re trying not to use medicine. However I was given tools in order to develop my own methods of dealing and targeting certain issues like timing myself and practicing sticking to these methods.
Do you think there is a stigma around neurodivergence?
P: There is definitely a stigma surrounding atypical people, but I personally haven’t experienced any since I'm not blatantly neurodivergent, however from what i’ve seen, in the wrong environments people do get bullied and excluded, especially if they’re female
How did you feel about your diagnosis?
P: I wasn’t surprised as I had suspected that I was. Although it’s expected, I also wasn’t upset as I never thought of neurodivergence as something that is bad.
Nowadays the topic of neurodivergence has been talked about and explored. As someone who also struggles with my own experiences of constantly being unaware of whether I’m neurodivergent, it’s interesting to see that other people also struggle. From what I’ve seen, even now neurodivergent people are met with disdain. Words like “autistic” are used as insults and children are unaware how to act around or speak to atypical children, leaving them to constantly be left out or mocked. Around 15-20% of people have undiagnosed neurodivergence. Is life as a young adult difficult when diagnosed, or does it help make life make sense?
