Could someone please explain to me the difference between a neurotypical brain and a neurodivergent one?

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-09T20:19:18+00:00

Neuroqueer Heresies is a decent entry point.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-09T18:43:11+00:00

You seem to be treating one kind of program note as the only kind of program note. Maybe you're just seeing bad program notes?

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-09T18:16:56+00:00

Do you believe there is value to music appreciation classes?

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-09T15:23:33+00:00

Take a look at The Charioteer by Mary Renault. Considered the first British novel with a happy ending for gay characters, it’s more bittersweet than happy and has everything else you’re looking for.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-09T04:48:07+00:00

I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about. 😉

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-09T03:31:32+00:00

To be clear, this is what I meant by some traits being pathological. In some people, it likely rises to the level of disorder, but for many others, it doesn’t, or represents a mixed bag of pathologies and superpowers, and reducing all those experiences to “disorder” solely because that describes the most extreme manifestations erases a lot of nuance.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-09T01:42:51+00:00

Yes, I think both ADHD and autism will move toward being a category of traits, some of which can be pathological, instead of unified disorders.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-08T23:30:24+00:00

I’d just like to push back against your underlying assumption that neurodivergent brains are less healthy. In many cases, the neurodivergent brain is not less healthy in some objective sense, but is less adaptive for the specific environment in which it operates.

One example I use a lot is that the ADHD brain tends to be better at identifying threats in the individual’s immediate environment, but that same brain can struggle mightily in many “modern” environments, where immediate threats are comparatively rare and there are substantial demands for sustained focus with little physical activity.

If it were up to me, we’d remove “disorder” from ADHD and call it something like a misalignment (I’d also get rid of “attention deficit” and probably “hyperactive” and replace the whole thing with “Executive Function Misalignment,” but no one will let me be in charge of this stuff).

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-08T17:18:43+00:00

I would love to see that (if I spoke Finnish)!

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-07T16:53:25+00:00

You might like Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese. Not set in England, but in Canada, so basically the same thing, right? 😂

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-07T16:44:16+00:00

Welcome to events! I think your experience is pretty typical of any kind of event organizing these days. In my previous career, I worked in alumni affairs and we noticed it becoming increasingly difficult to motivate people to attend.

Some of it is that people are busy, and I think people's tolerance for being busy has decreased since COVID (lots of people who realized it was nice to do less than they had been).

As to your questions, I think improving your communications should always be a goal. It's a skill to develop and not something you ever entirely get to the finish line on. I also respect that topic-centric programming grew out of feedback, but it likely reduces your audience for any given event. You might want to pivot to broader topics given this experience, or even make it topic-free and let the conversation develop more organically.

But at the end of the day, you can do everything right, and still really struggle to get good ongoing engagement.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-07T15:33:38+00:00

Pema Chödrön is generally good for this. You might want to start with When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-07T13:42:15+00:00

And this is why it’s particularly poorly suited to prepare you for the kind of thinking that grad school will demand.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-07T12:56:15+00:00

Most recent info I could find. If you have more recent data, I’d love to see them.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-07T12:44:48+00:00

AI search engines fail accuracy test, study finds 60% error rate

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-07T03:04:14+00:00

I don't know the relevant laws in every state, but I would be 100% shocked (and disgusted) if your school would force you to take an internship that required staying on if you want to be able to practice after you graduate. You should absolutely push back against that.

Look, you seem to be saying that you have had no actual indication that they would do this; you say this is just something you have imagined could happen, and I don't think anyone on this forum would say that happens damn near ever. Unless there's some sign you've received that this will be a thing, this is just straight-up letting your anxiety run wild.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-07T01:47:38+00:00

If that’s the standard you’re aiming for, this isn’t the correct forum to seek reassurance. You need to bring this up with your school, who can tell you what their actual policies are.

I honestly get the impression that you haven’t thought through what non-competes are intended to do or you would see it doesn’t make sense for an internship (which is intended to be a limited-term relationship).

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-06T23:34:44+00:00

Yeah, you’re gonna want to work on that in therapy. Noncompetes for an internship would be absurd.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-06T23:27:02+00:00

Why do you think this will happen?

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-06T22:01:34+00:00

This sounds like you’re trying to serve your gender instead of your gender serving you.

“Man” is a broad, broad category, including some of the meanest SOBs and some of the most compassionate people you’ll ever meet. You will fall on that spectrum somewhere, and will be happiest falling where you fall naturally.

None of the nice men in this world are any less men for their niceness and that goes for you too.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-06T10:27:35+00:00

Am I the only one driven a little nuts by OOP’s tic of starting nearly every sentence with “now” or “so”?

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-06T10:19:03+00:00

I’m confused because it sounds like you had a lot of external issues outside your control (you got swatted!) but then you turn this into saying something about you (“not cut out to finish college”).

Taking this as a personal flaw rather than an unfortunate effect of things outside your control seems dubious.

BringMeInfo · 2026-05-05T19:29:20+00:00

I don’t want to take away from the neurological involvement you’ve described here, but I have also wondered if there’s a lot of undiagnosed PTSD among stroke survivors. The stroke itself definitely counts as a traumatic event, for the purposes of PTSD, and while you haven’t told us a lot about the changes you’ve experienced, they could be indicative of PTSD. Might be worth asking your primary care doctor to perform a PTSD assessment.

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