When they realized ADHD meant they could feed young white boys meth to make them shut up in class, they quickly shut up.
I actually don't remember that "era" of woke, but I feel like I need to be the responsible one here and say methamphetamine and amphetamines are NOT the same. That methyl group changes shit a substantial amount.
I'm by no means a chemist, but I've seen people on the spectrum who decided to attempt to self medicate with meth, rather than use prescribed amphetamines. Think of how outcasted and overstimulated someone on the spectrum is... now add meth paranoia. It was not pretty. Dude thought everyone was trying to kill him and hospital staff are on edge because they're skittish. So they got like 20 people crowding around him between care providers and security and it's just making the situation worse until they gotta be chemically and physically restrained. What a mess.
I know that wasn't your intention to imply they are the same, but I'd be irresponsible to not point that out.
As for the main point you made, I agree more or less. I think medication can be a powerful tool. Some people may genuinely not be able to function without it, but there's also a lot of people who get sucked into the trap of thinking they need medication to function and refuse to find pharmacological methods to succeed at their ADLs and executive functioning.
But instead I see kids on the spectrum overprotected by concerned parents who hear the doctor's initial scary speech of how they will never be like other kids. They shelter them and don't challenge them at all, and they never reach their full potential. They spend their lives working entry level retail jobs when they could've been capable of doing great things. We've all seen a lot of those with ADHD Aspergers autism etc tend to, due to their nature, become highly gifted in specific areas that are of great interest. These high functioning people could get high level jobs that work in what they enjoy and advance science greatly. They could be big names in their fields. Instead they get sheltered, their ability to manage their disease is atrophied, and they spend their lives working at Goodwill.
Psychology and developmental disorder studies need a rework from the ground up, but Christ help us because the current generation of people in that field are drooling blue haired retards themselves.
What I think makes the difference is, first and foremost, the parents. The ones who succeed had parents who wanted more for them. It wasn't easy, for them or the parents, but they came out of childhood able to manage their own shortcomings or even excel because of them. They were highly motivated and high performing... and not just on test numbers. That performance translated to job performance. A desire to challenge themselves is born of their constant challenges to adhere to normalcy. They realize the more they face shortcomings head on, the greater they become. They can become well spoken charismatic people because they refuse to accept their social ineptitude and actually begin to excel at socializing, at least in limited spaces like work. Sure, put them in a situation where a co-worker is coming onto them or something, they'd be lost. But they learn to fake it in everyday situations and become some of the most extroverted people in the work place. These people who learn to push themselves out of their comfort zones become top performers because there is no limit to what they are capable of improving on and they have a mindset that seeks to be better, not just shy away from things they are bad at.
And shy of parents being unable to foster that, a good case manager is a godsend. You can't approach these people with a blanket approach. That's how the whole medication craze of the 2000s came about. You need individualized care and early intervention, and we've kinda known that all along.
If it helps, there are people out there who don't just follow the blue haired nonsense. Unfortunately, those on the spectrum and otherwise neurodivergent are highly susceptible to the... well I don't want to call it propaganda because that implies it's intended, and I don't think it is, but this virtue signalling nonsense. They are people pleasers because they have always been on the backstep, so they often have low self esteem and are hyperfocused on being liked, and thus when someone tells you that you are a bad person for wanting to own a firearm, or for using a specific word like retard or faggot, you, as a self conscious person who wants everyone to like you, will be more impacted by that than most. What protects some is a high sense of morality. The problem with the blue haired crowd is it's all theater. It's all virtue signaling. It's all about looking like you care, not actually caring. And as susceptible as this population can be to not wanting to be a bad guy, they also often have a high sense of morality and doing the right thing. And that can work in their favor. They realize these people are all hypocrites and liars and rebel against it. I think honestly, that sub-population makes up like 90% of this site.
The problem I see is when they then fully embrace this idea of being the bad guy and just become the other extreme. The "Alt right" as it were.
Ultimately, the truth is in moderation and centrism. You can say bad things and be a good guy. You can be a bad guy and say good things. And sometimes, you just gotta pick your battles. But that's an area of shortfalling for this population. They can't read the grays in some ways. But sometimes, being on the outside lets you see those grays a lot easier.
You deal with this nonsense the same way. You can't focus on the population. They're just a bunch of drooling retards. Instead, you have to focus on what you can change. The world will probably continue to get worse, in my opinion. We will continue to enable these mouthbreathers and the population will, in turn, become more saturated with mouthbreathers.
Carve out your slice of happiness in the world. Take your little slice of western land, put up a fence, and hold a shotgun to anyone who dare try to kick your dog. That's my mentality. All are welcome, but I'm leaving this world with more than I came into it, and your fucked up morality and virtue signaling won't stop me. And, in part for being as fortunate as I've been, I'll help those around me who are receptive to it. There ain't many though. Most are too stupid and too caught up in bitching about why the world is so cruel. That's the wrong question. The question should be, how can you succeed in spite of the unfair nature of the world.
