Context or Stigma? Conflating neurodivergence and violence
As a newly-diagnosed AuDHDer (someone who is autistic and has ADHD), I’m hyper-aware of when my two particular flavours of neurodivergence are mentioned in the news - and the general trend I’ve noticed is that it’s rarely good. Common themes are ‘the rise in ADHD diagnoses is a trend’ (rather than historically underdiagnosed groups finally being taken seriously), or ‘autistic children are being convinced they’re trans by The Trans LobbyⒸ’ (in reality, there seems to be a correlation between being autistic and being trans, but little legitimate research has been done into this correlation so far). These stories rarely bring in perspectives from actual neurodivergent people, instead centring narratives that foster a fear that society at large is somehow being manipulated - either by lazy, dramatic people who are using spurious ADHD diagnoses for personal gain (read: asking for reasonable accommodations at work or in education that we’re entitled to by law), or by a shadowy group of evil trans folks who apparently are able to manipulate the workings of multiple government departments, but who are for some reason using this power to ‘trans’ autistic teens, instead of stopping the previous and current governments rolling back trans rights in every sphere.
In the wake of the far-right riots that dominated the news in summer, as well as other prominent stories in the media, I’ve noticed another trend. Autism and ADHD is increasingly being mentioned in the context of someone committing an act of shocking and disturbing violence. Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, the cis teenagers who murdered trans teenage girl Brianna Ghey after exchanging a series of disturbing, transphobic messages, were both reported to ‘have traits of autism and ADHD’. Legal counsel acting for a participant in the summer’s racist riots brought up his ADHD diagnosis as part of his defence. A teenage boy who murdered 15-year-old Holly Newton because she rejected him romantically cannot be named because of his age, but can have his autism diagnosis mentioned as part of reporting on his heinous act. None of the articles state explicitly that the person in question was violent because of their neurodivergence, but the implication is there - ADHD and autism diagnoses are mentioned alongside acts of violence to invite us to make a connection between the two.
Anyone who has lived their life with autism and/or ADHD knows first-hand that neurodivergence makes you more likely to be the target of aggression, not the perpetrator - but you don’t have to take our word for it. Studies have shown that autistic people are at a higher risk of victimisation than allistic (non-autistic) people. The new trend of bringing up autism or ADHD diagnoses when discussing people who have caused extreme harm to others plays on stereotypes around autistic and ADHD people. There is a widespread belief that autistic people cannot experience empathy, which I believe is why Ghey’s murderers’ autism diagnoses were so frequently mentioned. In reality, autistic experiences of empathy are extremely varied, and there are many autistic people, myself included, who are hyper-empathetic to the point that it makes it quite difficult to function. Add in that pesky justice sensitivity, and we can be completely overwhelmed by news stories of bigotry or injustice that a neurotypical person might find sad, but be able to keep at a manageable emotional distance. Ghey’s killers did not mock and dehumanise her because of their autism; they did it because of their transphobia. Newton’s murderer did not kill her because he is autistic; he killed her as part of a widespread trend of cis men feeling violently entitled to women and girls’ bodies.
Similarly, while ADHD is linked to impulsive behaviour, this does not mean that having ADHD makes you more likely to join a mob attacking people of colour or burning down hotels housing asylum seekers. ADHD doesn’t make a person racist; at the most, it makes a person less able to hide the racist opinions that they hold. ADHD makes you chase dopamine, doing things that give you a short-term burst of the “happy hormones” that are scarcer for you than for others because of your brain chemistry. Many people with ADHD impulse buy products (books and badges for me), drink too much on nights out, or hook up with people that, in retrospect, they probably should have binned off instead - things that the majority of people can recognise as enjoyable to a greater or lesser extent. If violent racist actions scratch a person’s ADHD itch, it’s probably because that person is a violent racist, not because they have ADHD.
Media outlets have a responsibility to stop conflating neurodivergence with violent actions, unless they are discussing a case where there is a proven, direct link between the two. Currently, the media’s trend of mentioning autism and ADHD diagnoses in these cases, without proving any relevance, is serving dangerous narratives. Those of us who live with autism and ADHD are already told that we’re probably faking our neurodivergence, ‘wanting to be special’ or get those sweet sweet benefits (which, again, usually extend to little more than some extra time on an exam or being allowed to wear noise-cancelling earphones in the office). Autistic and ADHD kids are told that they can’t possibly have the level of self-analysis they would need to know their own gender identity, unless of course they’re cis (to which I say, show me a neurodivergent person of any age who hasn’t spent extensive time analysing their own brain and sense of self, and I’ll show you a person who has and just hasn’t disclosed that to you). And now, autistic and ADHD people are increasingly being linked with violent acts - which is not a reflection of the reality of being neurodivergent, but is certainly a good way to put people off seeking those “trendy” diagnoses, or disclosing them if we already have them. Perhaps that’s why we’re seeing this narrative more and more, in the wake of the post-pandemic “everyone says they’re AuDHD now” articles. When it comes to disempowering marginalised groups, stigmatisation works.
