Dementia as an alternative "neurotype"

[Streetwise]

The thing is @NothingToSeeHere is that it's not stretching a definition - it's always been part of the concept from inception. The fact that popular perception has drawn it away from it's roots doesn't change the original intent.
As to the treatment of people with degenerative neurological diseases, people ARE discriminated against. In the early stages of many such diseases, or when they are under control, people have lost their jobs and suffered exclusion once the knowledge of their condition has been made public. I've witnessed it myself through a personal contact who has Parkinson's.
Neurodiversity is not just about autism, ADHD, dyslexia and the differences we talk about often in communities like this. Neurodiversity concerns everybody. Nobody should be discriminated against because their neurology is different, whatever the reason for that difference. Excluding people with dementia from the equation would be like excluding mixed race people from the racial diversity conversation if they're part Caucasian. Accepting diversity in any form means simply letting go of discrimination on the basis of difference.

I agree wholeheartedly if you seen somebody with Lou Gehrig’s disease you are in no doubt that is a neurotype my mother spent the first four or five months after diagnosis refusing to communicate with anyone I presume because she feared that she would be looked at negatively it was bad enough that she lost her speech and she was watching her muscles die without somebody inferring that she didn’t belong to a group because she wasn’t autistic schizophrenic or had bipolar disorder or the disorders grouped under autism.
imagine being paralysed and being one of the most !!independent people you could possibly imagine and somebody who you almost detest !!!!who has come to care for you ,even though nobody !wanted !you to indicating !!!!that you were lazy! because you couldn’t get up from a wheelchair and then somebody saying you’re not a neurotype ,imagine what she would be thinking !,try to imagine every single muscle and nerve in your body dying ,I mean every single one !for instance her lips collapsed !inwards !because the muscles died in her lips ,her eyelids started to collapse because the muscles died ,neck collapsed because the muscles died ,hands and fingers curled inwards because the muscles died ,legs twisted inwards for some reason, she weighed 3 1/2 stones when she died ,then you have Alzheimer’s disease where not only do you lose your memory! but you forget how to eat !and drink !so you starve to death !which means your heart !shrinks! all your organs shrink !that would be agony, make all those people’s lives one jot harder by saying they don’t belong.

 

[nowwhat]

My husband (who has early-stage Alzheimer's) and I are active at our local senior center. We attend exercise class three days a week as well as other events.

I try to smile warmly at others in our exercise class and say good morning, even though I don't know most people's names. My husband, who is more sociable than me, often gets into discussions with other participants before or after the class. We all ride the same elevator and often have lunch or coffee in the lunchroom.

Being congenial and helpful with elderly people is an exercise in accepting the humanity of those who have lost some of their brain cells or connections due to aging. I think it is fair to view it as an alternative neurotype, just like autism, ADHD, and TBI (traumatic brain injury).

When you accept and connect with others who are neurodiverse, you also grow in acceptance of yourself.

Do any of you work with the elderly, or interact with them often? How does it make you feel?

No need for sematic sleight of hand or nonsensical and confusion redefinition of already useful, settled and agreed upon language. Why not go with regular old love, patience and inderstanding? Isnt that what we are talking about here?

 

[Bolletje]

I’ve worked on a ward with people with non-congenital brain damage. This included people who had been in accidents, people with Korsakoff and Huntington’s, to mention a few. While I wouldn’t call them neurotypical, I wouldn’t call it a different type of neurodiversity. I see it more as an altered state because of permanent damage to the brain. I’d classify the several types of dementia in the same group, although the mechanisms are vastly different.

 

[Autistamatic]

There are no "types" of Neurodiversity. It is a singular concept applied to the entire population.

 

[GadAbout]

I didn't think this question would be so controversial. Personally, I will continue to hold my concept of dementia as an instance of neurodiversity because it is fruitful, even if it isn't theoretically sound. It reminds me that my husband's state is different but valid and valued. I have to catch myself over and over, starting to view him as annoyingly stupid and remembering instead that he makes the most of what he has.

Not to start any further controversy, but I also view psychiatric illnesses the same way - OCD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc. I view them that way because it informs my response to people with these problems. I even think you can fruitfully extend the principle to people in an altered state due to drugs.

I never meant to suggest that autism is a disease.

 

[Fino]

So you find it easier to be compassionate within a particular paradigm. If you can convince yourself to view all people in this way, you'll be a saint!

 

[GadAbout]

So you find it easier to be compassionate within a particular paradigm. If you can convince yourself to view all people in this way, you'll be a saint!

I can't view my narcissistic sister in this way, because I was victimized by her way too much and too often. Sorry! No saint here.

 

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

I can't view my narcissistic sister in this way, because I was victimized by her way too much and too often. Sorry! No saint here.

You're victimized by your sister??? Reminds me of Frostee's situation.

 

[GadAbout]

You're victimized by your sister??? Reminds me of Frostee's situation.

Nothing of the sort, but I'm not going to bore everyone with the details.

 

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

Nothing of the sort, but I'm not going to bore everyone with the details.

Ok