The left and neurodivergence: the new battleground

Neurodivergence: the identity label dividing the left

Are neurodivergent people the new oppressed minority the left needs to keep adding causes to its list? Judging by how widely the label has spread across social media and political language, the answer seems to be yes. The term, originally coined to describe people with autism or ADHD, has become an umbrella under which almost any form of social maladjustment fits. The problem is that clinical diagnosis is being confused with identity self-affirmation.

From the clinic to the flag

Some argue that the phenomenon of childhood transsenstrans is repeating itself: young people who self-identify as neurodivergent on the sole basis of their subjective testimony, sometimes with videos showing themselves as outgoing and talkative. Against this stand the real cases of severe autism, officially recognised as disability by the Spanish authorities. The underlying suspicion is that the label serves to turn eccentricity into a privilege of victimhood.

The workplace cost of being different

Those who live with diagnosed disorders tell a different story: that of a labour market that punishes a lack of chemistry with bosses and colleagues. Many end up self-employed or sitting civil service exams, not out of vocation, but because it is the only route to stability. Organisations, they complain, approach the problem the wrong way: they turn a concrete, everyday difficulty into a political cause.

Lack of empathy, a diagnosis from the right

Mocking mental health problems as a political weapon has found an echo even among those who identify as right-wing. Another current recalls that compassion for the disadvantaged was part of the classic conservative creed, and that laughing at the class nerd is not a principle, it is childish. The closing note, with irony: perhaps the next logical step is to demand a small allowance for those already living with the diagnosis. Some point out that someone on the left is already calculating it.