[JulianChastain]

I think the whole point of the term neordivergent is imply that many mental disorders aren't impairments in the sense of stop you from living life, but are different ways of perceiving. For example, I know an eye surgeon who was diagnosed with ADHD in his forties. He is incredibly successful and by all external measures well adjusted. This was because he had developed a set of very successful coping strategies to make up for his lack of executive function. I agree that it's pretty easy to falsify, I just think you have to actually ask the patient about how they experience life to do so.

[uoaei]

This opens an interesting line of inquiry. Is ADHD simply the lack of adequate coping mechanisms? Is ADHD somehow the "default" state of a human mind, and the effect of maturing into a particular psychosocial niche that some level of coping mechanisms are required to "function" "correctly" per socially constructed standards?

[kortex]

> Is ADHD somehow the "default" state of a human mind, and the effect of maturing into a particular psychosocial niche that some level of coping mechanisms are required to "function" "correctly" per socially constructed standards?

IMHO, yes, but actually, no? ADHD is marked by executive dysregulation. An immature brain (they say the brain does not mature until the 20s) also shows poor executive control. However, ADHD is detectable as certain processing difficulties within an age cohort.

Similarly, I don't think it's a lack of coping mechanisms. It's very heritable, even controlling for upbringing/habits (I'm adopted by very obviously non-ADHD and disciplined parents - I did not pick up basically any of their coping skills naturally and had to develop my own).

I think it's almost entirely congenital - between genes and gestation, your neurodivergency die is cast at birth (unless acquired via brain injury).

> This was because he had developed a set of very successful coping strategies to make up for his lack of executive function.

I think this takes a special set of conditions, and/or a mild case of it. Some people do learn to cope. I would contend even these folks have indicators of stress/mental health problems, even if non-obvious. Or they just drew the best possible ADHD hand in terms of life events.