A few years ago, I was welcomed into an online community of differently abled activists, even though I didn’t identify as differently abled, and perhaps I might even have been perceived as being challenged in my understanding of what “differently abled” really means.

There are two particular things that I remember from that group. One was a quote from a person in a wheelchair who said, “I can’t remember your name, but your belt buckle sure looks familiar”. Ever since then, I’ve sought to be on the same level as those around me as much as possible. A second phrase that has stuck with me was about how some members of the community referred to “temporarily able bodied” peopled. I think this is an important perspective.

All of these things come to my mind as I think about disabilities, disorders, and all the other ways we “diss” people. It comes to mind as I think about the social construction of disorder.

One disorder that comes to mind is ADHD, and particularly Sir Ken Robinson’s Changing Education Paradigms. He suggests that much of the epidemic of ADHD related prescriptions is really related to issues of school being boring to kids in this highly stimulated internet age. How many kids diagnosed with ADHD are really just bored and are being medicated to keep the classroom under control? I know I was bored in school and probably would have been diagnosed with ADHD. To borrow language from Robinson, I’m not saying there is no such thing as ADHD, I’m simply suggesting that perhaps some of the times that it is thought of as a disorder is really a social construction based on some questionable social norms about order in the classroom.

Likewise, is having a sexual orientation or gender identity different from the norm a disorder, or is that too, a social construct? From the 1970s to the 1990s various health organizations stopped considering homosexuality a disorder and in DSM-V, “Gender Identity Disorder” has been replaced with “Gender Dysphoria”. It is now generally frowned upon to suggest that homosexuals seek therapy to be cured of their homosexuality.

All of this comes up in relation to some recent discussions about ‘the spectrum’. Some refer to this as Autism Spectrum Disorder while others use words like syndrome and neurodiversity.

I was recently reading some of the signs and symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder, as described by the National Institute of Mental Health.

“Having unusual behaviors” – This sure sounds like a social construct to me. Which behaviors are deemed ‘usual’ and which behaviors are ‘unusual’. Does this depend on the culture or other social norms?

‘Having overly focused interests’ – I find this one particularly interesting in contrast to ADHD and not being focused enough.

‘Having a lasting, intense interest in certain topics, such as … facts.’ Perhaps this is one of the biggest concerns right now. Having a lasting interest in facts is considered a disorder? Perhaps this says something about where we are as a nation politically right now.

‘Making little or inconsistent eye contact’ - This is another one that jumps out at me. In my readings about cultural competency in health care the role of eye contact is regularly mentioned as varying by culture. As an example, one (of many) courses on cultural competency in health care notes, “Eye contact with a health care professional may be avoided as a sign of respect.”

Another that especially grabs my attention is ‘Repeating words or phrases that they hear, a behavior called echolalia’ Those of us who call ourselves poets have a different word for repeating words or phrases: anaphora. Anaphora is an important rhetorical device.

Immediately after that sign or symptom comes, “Using words that seem odd, out of place, or have a special meaning known only to those familiar with that person’s way of communicating” I have to wonder if some of those words include echolalia, anaphora, or perhaps rhizome or performativity .

‘Having facial expressions, movements, and gestures that do not match what is being said’ – Here we are back to our cultural competency ideas. Facial expressions are a function of one’s culture, one’s social context.

Again, I will return to Sir Ken Robinson’s disclaimer. I am not saying that there is no such thing as autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, or even disorders around sexual orientation and gender identity. I am simply suggesting that we need to look very closely at when these are truly disorders and when they are social constructs.