Jessica Bordelon Mashael
1 min readFeb 27, 2022

--

In short, this should not be considered a "disorder." As humans, we have a wide variety of ways to exist in this world, a wide variety of what makes us comfortable and not, etc.

If this list of items makes you uncomfortable, that should not be called a "disorder" or "not neurotypical." In fact, I argue that no one is "neurotypical."

For as long as there have been people, there have been differences in what we can and cannot tolerate. For example, in some cultures, it's more common to withdraw from physical touch with anyone that is not your parent or spouse, while in others, touching the arm and squeezing the shoulders is quite common. I have witnessed these clashes of expectations in my university classrooms.

Now imagine being a person who doesn't like physical touch but you grew up in a culture that expects everyone to embrace or touch arms etc?

It's still not a disorder. And I hope that we soon can abandon this terminology and instead agree that if someone needs more time alone and has aversions to certain sounds and textures, they have a natural right to avoid these things. None of that is unusual or "non typical." It's in fact, quite typical for every person to avoid what makes them uncomfortable.

--

--

Jessica Bordelon Mashael
Jessica Bordelon Mashael

Written by Jessica Bordelon Mashael

I am all the stuff of Millenials — Multitasker, Hustler, Unapologetic, Humanitarian. I write about Growth: wealth, relationships, spirituality and more. :-)

No responses yet