Is everyone stupid and doesnt read the meme or am I stupid and "ignoring your squirrel trades" and "copying expressions of beavers" are somehow related to mental health in English?
this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2025
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Neurodivergence
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All things neurodivergent and relating to the broader neurodivergent community (and communities).
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I appreciate the graphic but this is also confusing me. IMO go all in with animaln metaphors or create a clear graphic.
Dunno about beavers, but I think the squirrel bit is just using their typical hyperactivity as something most people are familiar with.
Squirrels sound like the stereotypical ADHD: bouts of frenetic activity, followed by a freeze, frenetic, freeze, etc.
Beavers... I'd rather associate with mild autism: hear water, need to build dam to get rid of the sound, need to chew tree, everything else is secondary.
Not sure why it seems to be using them as opposites.
Comparing neurodivergence to the behavior of animals doesn't seem like the way towards understanding & acceptance.
Lighten up? There's obviously context we're missing, and the image was created by an org that works with children. I'd imagine the comparison with animals is to help neurodivergent children have a sense of reference if they aren't emotionally aware. It's also pretty clear this material isn't made to help neurotypicals "understand & accept" us.
Lighten up?
It genuinely doesn't matter to me, I'm just pointing it out.
It's not really a fact you can just "point out" though? You're pointing out that an analogy is flawed, it just seems pedantic...
it just seems pedantic
I'd like to refer you to all of history for what happens to marginalized groups when it becomes culturally acceptable to compare their behavior to animals.
You do you and whatever, but it doesn't matter who made this or with what intent, it's still comparing neurodivergent behavior to squirrels and beavers.
This has all the energy of the Texas furry ban.
And this has the energy of a dog whistle.
You seem intent on making this personal, and I'm not sure why. Either way, I'm not interested in "defending" a factual observation.
It's not really a factual observation to nitpick an analogy? As well, considering the org looks to be South African based, it also might be that your ascribing western values here when they don't fit.
It is fact this meme compares neurodivergence to animalistic behavior, but you clearly aren't interested. Instead, you've tried to insinuate racism. Another dog whistle, and another shot at my character.
You clearly have nothing useful to contribute to the conversation. You are not arguing in good faith. I will not continue entertaining you.
Some animals have stereotyped behaviors that are easier to understand as the bare behavior, than it is to explain a behavior on the example of "someone who looks like you, but see, they don't always behave or think like you do, you need to take into account personal differences, and not everyone's differences are the same as someone else's, so we will analyze particular behavior traits as..." ...but you've lost your audience at the first comma.
In any case, what shorthand placeholders would you suggest?
That's a good question and I'm not sure I have a good answer. I yearn for a time when we can talk about neurodivergence simply and in human terms. Doesn't "That person has a short attention span" get the point across without adding "... like a squirrel" to the end? It's a difficult conversation to have, as you've rightly pointed out, but I think if we keep having that talk we'll get better at it.
And now that you have me thinking about it, another thought: We also use animal analogies in positive ways like "she's a shark" or "he's lionhearted". I wonder if there's a happy middle ground somewhere. Can we find an analogy that works that doesn't equate someone to a rodent?
Eye contact is pain but I learned to avoid it without being too obvious. Took a friend of mine over a year to realize I'm looking at his forehead instead. Guess that's a perk of having to look up to everyone around you :D
This post makes me realize that masking is the thing I've spent the bulk of my life defiantly refusing.
... and why people seem to hate you for no apparent reason. or they will come up with shitty reasons.
I mean, it's also why some people like me. And why some people like me at first but eventually wander off when they run into people that don't like that I'm not willing to pretend to be someone else.
But it also means I speak my mind and am seldom surprised when someone who says heinously authoritarian shit turns out to be a jerk. And it means that sometimes I see manipulation that some people seem to go out of their way not to see, which makes me gravitate away from people that other people seem to get sucked in by.
Personally, I'd rather be willing to say what I see than to tiptoe around polite fictions that ultimately cause us more trouble than they're worth. Even if it means some people who would rather bite their tongues forever don't really like me.
thats fair. some people do like the honesty, and they are usually more genuine anyway.
I don't anymore. And those who don't like it can miss out on knowing me
Most of the left side of the image is me.
It got me into the position where I'm being automated out of my own job and utterly miserable, and simultaneously being judged for not making up shit to do or pretensing to be busy where there's nothing to do. I was very gently pressured into the role and caved almost immediately, and i hate it and the way out was yoinked out from under me before i could even take it.
You also supress squirrel thoughts?