CCN--that's exactly it, I think, that we are over-pathologizing normal variations.
squishys--thanks for the direction; I've seen things like that about ADHD (and heard Edward Hallowell on NPR speaking very eloquently about how ADHD is a benefit to many adults), and I've also seen an article here and there about how some scientists realize they are on the autism spectrum but weren't diagnosed as kids--because back then they were just considered geeks, or quirky.
I think it's a very bad thing, and am glad some (credentialed) people are trying to counteract it by pointing that out.
I think so, as well.
I find it highly distressing that we seem (as a society, certainly, and maybe as a civilization) to be rushing ever faster to NARROW our interpretation of "normal" into a picture of 'normative' that is shrinking by at least 1/4th of a standard deviation each decade.
What we used to find quirky/amusing/eccentric but tolerable or at least
beneficial in certain circumstances, we are now pathologizing very early on.
I find it very peculiar when that pathologizing is related to rate of development, or affective setpoint. Not everyone develops in lockstep with "average," in terms of cognition or executive function.
One size MUST fit all now, and if it doesn't, we need to label what is "wrong" with the individual before we make any allowances for the variations.
How sad. Maybe it's not that the individual is so wrong-- but that the environment has become so INTOLERANT.
