{"id":314,"date":"2025-06-02T17:57:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T00:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/?p=314"},"modified":"2025-06-08T18:00:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T01:00:17","slug":"the-language-of-inclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/02\/the-language-of-inclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"The language of inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Neurodiversity, like gender diversity, sexual orientation diversity, racial diversity, is just language to describe the vast territory of human variation. Where once our language was simple, our categories few, and our understanding limited, we now are able to talk about our unique being in the world with recognition, empathy, and nuanced respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one time we only had names for the large and small lights in the sky: Sun, moon, stars. Then we began to see patterns, and so <\/a>the Constellations formed. The deeper we look, the more we learn about the nature and vastness of existence itself. And suddenly, we can print volumes and fill institutions with the great variety of language that we have to describe what was always there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have only relatively recently had the tools to be able to look into the nuances of human diversity beyond the realm of human cognitive bias. What we might think of as new has always been part of the human experience in a way that we may not have developed language for\u2013or that the biases of powerful societies have erased as they absorb and subsume older ones, whose languages are often more nuanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next time someone tells you that the neurological orientation we call ADHD is caused by video games, or that vaccines cause autism, or that sexual orientation can be prayed away, or that being trans is a lifestyle choice, or that it\u2019s a sin to marry outside of one\u2019s race, ask them if they believe in a world beyond the constellations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask them if they believe the moon landing was faked. Ask them if they believe the moon is made of cheese, or that the Earth is flat and the sun is extinguished in the ocean every night. Because what they are really saying is that they are clinging to a world of simple categories that they can understand. Pity them, but please, do not fail to educate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remind them that we are more alike than different, even as we are infinitely individually unique. Remind them that we all have hordes of tiny insects living around the base of our eyelashes, and that there are bacteria living in our intestines that are waiting only for us to perish so they can make our nutrients available to the grass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remind them that neurodiversity, gender diversity, sexual orientation diversity, racial diversity, are not any more threatening to them than those organisms that inhabit their bodies, that on the contrary, they actually affirm the community of beings that each one is, including them. Remind them that we, as a species, are successful because of our diversity, rather than in spite of it. Remind them that inclusion includes them, too, as they cling to their paper glider as it hurtles through the vastness of space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy Pride!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neurodiversity, like gender diversity, sexual orientation diversity, racial diversity, is just language to describe the vast territory of human variation. Where once our language was simple, our categories few, and our understanding limited, we now are able to talk about our unique being in the world with recognition, empathy, and nuanced respect. At one time … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-neurodiversity","category-reflection"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paor1p-54","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":428,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/27\/its-not-a-condition-its-a-predisposition\/","url_meta":{"origin":314,"position":0},"title":"It’s not a condition \u2013 it’s a predisposition","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"June 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Me: It's not a condition \u2013 it's a predisposition. Friend: What is? My particular nervous system processes my experience through language. I have experiences, and some part of me chews and chews and chews and digests and then out comes a word (this didn\u2019t start as a scatological reference, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chronicle"","block_context":{"text":"chronicle","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/chronicle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-7.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-7.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-7.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-7.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-7.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":458,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/21\/neurodiversity-journey-recognition\/","url_meta":{"origin":314,"position":1},"title":"neurodiversity journey: recognition","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"July 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Now that I am coming to understand my own neurodivergence, from the inside, (my punch card is getting full! It's pretty clear I have autistic traits, in addition to ADHD, aphantasia, and proprioception hyposensitivity. Hurray!), I understand some of my differences as gifts. My inner blindness reroutes my visual processing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chronicle"","block_context":{"text":"chronicle","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/chronicle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3F080A78-FE43-42DF-9B29-38214F5F8927.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3F080A78-FE43-42DF-9B29-38214F5F8927.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3F080A78-FE43-42DF-9B29-38214F5F8927.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3F080A78-FE43-42DF-9B29-38214F5F8927.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3F080A78-FE43-42DF-9B29-38214F5F8927.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3F080A78-FE43-42DF-9B29-38214F5F8927.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":432,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/28\/%f0%9f%8f%b3%ef%b8%8f%f0%9f%8c%88\/","url_meta":{"origin":314,"position":2},"title":"\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"June 28, 2025","format":"aside","excerpt":"Supreme Court 2025 = Spanish Inquisition 1616 It wasn\u2019t until 1992 that the Catholic Church admitted their mistake. 376 mf\u2019ing years. Diversity is the truth. Orthodoxy is the lie. Don\u2019t let it take 4 centuries to pull your head out of your orthodox hindquarters! Pride = Life","rel":"","context":"In "chronicle"","block_context":{"text":"chronicle","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/chronicle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":583,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/12\/the-care-economy-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":314,"position":3},"title":"the care economy","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"August 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"give The care economy is an emerging model for supporting people, things, and processes we\u2019d like to see more of in the world.\u00a0It is about recognizing the things in our experience that bring us joy, that give us a [wow] or a [yes], and responding to these moments in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "neurodiversity"","block_context":{"text":"neurodiversity","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/neurodiversity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":486,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/26\/framing-is-everything\/","url_meta":{"origin":314,"position":4},"title":"framing is everything","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"July 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Neurodiversity is the new (different! better!) cognitive frame. Astrology, Enneagram, Meyers-Briggs, Chinese medicine, naturopathy, homeopathy: having passed through these modalities, none of them made me feel seen in the ways that they were implemented by the particular practitioners who applied them to me. To be fair, I may have met\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chronicle"","block_context":{"text":"chronicle","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/chronicle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":438,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/29\/waiting-for-yes\/","url_meta":{"origin":314,"position":5},"title":"Waiting for yes","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"June 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Oh, come on Ryk, you're being so persnickety with language again. Why don't you just lighten up and hear what we mean, and not worry so much about how we say it?\" Why, thank you for being brave and vulnerable, and for speaking up when you feel the need arise.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chronicle"","block_context":{"text":"chronicle","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/chronicle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0336-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0336-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0336-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0336-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0336-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions\/316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}