People need to make sense of their lives. These sensemaking processes often attempt to explain aspects of one’s experience that are recontextualized by neurodivergence.
A new self-understanding as autistic, ADHD, neurodivergent etc must be integrated it into that sensemaking narrative; talking about being neurodivergent is, itself, part of that process. Storytelling, conversation, blogging, creative work, etc. are methods of the self-definition work that precedes a diagnosis or new neurodivergent self-understanding and continues beyond it.
references
[Creating a sensemaking narrative] happens when our current way of understanding ourselves or our situation is inadequate. Without the [autism] piece of the puzzle, I was forced to cobble together incomplete explanations for my developmental history and my life experiences. […] Each person’s sensemaking narrative is unique. [… Its expression] can take many forms: oral, written, visual or mixed media. It can be factual, fictional, derivative or a combination.
There is a lot of pain that comes from knowing that you’re different but not knowing why. [Autism] gave me an explanation, but more importantly it gave me a starting point for healing that scared, confused kid inside me. […] As I worked back through the more difficult aspects of my childhood, I felt like I was somehow mothering my younger self—revisiting each moment, looking at it in a new light and telling that younger version of me that it wasn’t my fault, that I’d done the best I could, that to expect more from me in the absence of support would have been unreasonable. […] Each new bit of information absolved me of some perceived failure as a child and helped me begin healing some very old wounds.
⤷ I Think I Might Be Autistic, Cynthia Kim