I’m on the autism spectrum (I think) and with ADHD, and I absolutely love INaturalist. I think one of the reasons I love it personally is that it allows me to visualize and put things into boxes (like looking at my life list in a taxonomical view) in a way that makes sense to me, and like you said, dive fully into my special interests! I think a lot of people who are super into nature like this are neurodivergent
9 Likes
I think any of us who are into nature and also like taxonomy — the naming and putting things into neat boxes, and boxes within boxes — are drawn to iNat since it does have that nice organizational structure. Of course nature is always fighting our efforts to maintain order. Along with the taxonomists.
6 Likes
I have ADHD, biology/environmental science is my lifelong special interest
3 Likes
I am not diagnosed but I can say with certainty that I wouldn’t be where I was right now, especially in regards to iNaturalist, if I didn’t have some kind of “neurodiversity”. It’s both fulfilling, but also frustrating in most social situations where the topic of iNaturalist cannot save me!
I’ve never particularly been able to keep friends, courtesy of what are probably some kind of autism spectrum views and interpretations on conversation and phrasing in general. This leads to a lot of cases where I could not predict or even understand that tensions rose or folks felt insulted/hurt from something I said that sounded very simple and harmless to me. This is aside from the fact I am introverted and seem to have little ability to enjoy most “normal cultural things” that folks often dabble in.
I have long put it to just my culture that I was born in, and that certainly is part of it (see: British sarcasm), however it isn’t the whole story.
11 Likes
I’ve been getting better with ADD/ADHD by reading and listening to Dr Gabor Mate’. His book Scattered Minds
And finding a therapist who is trauma educated, really helps. .
1 Like
I happen to really like British sarcasm. But some Americans just don’t get it.
3 Likes
it’s funny how some people believe autistic people can’t be sarcastic but a lot of us are actually so sarcastic it confuses people :D
6 Likes
I deal with OCD, anxiety, rejection and depression. I have found iNaturalist to be a rewarding experience until this year when a comment I made on the Forum was described as insensitive, lazy, etc. And such responses to my comment all received many little hearts of approval. Usually the response from moderators and staff is to state that we are to assume that others mean well. Virtue signaling is not, in my opinion, making that assumption. Also, I am not just referring to my experience but that of several others who have been singled out for criticism based on a perception that may not be true.
5 Likes
That doesn’t mean we won’t be really confused when other people are sarcastic though…
3 Likes
ha, very true. and if i’m upset or distracted i get worse at it.
I can relate. It seems that if I have a conversation about anything other than plants, I can’t contribute much on my side 
I might be part of the younger generation of people, but I’m more or less ignorant of more than half the things trending among my peers. Living under a rock, one might say… or I guess in my case under a tree.
The one thing I can do is listen to other people talk. I’m curious about what the other people do too, and I can appreciate it, even if it might require some extra explanation of such-and-such term. It’s just when the “what about you?” or “have you watched/seen ____” questions that trips me up. The only exceptions to this are botany, plants, and a few miscellaneous things like Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
6 Likes
I will admit, I can have conversations with either myself or with plants, animals and inanimate/imaginary objects better than I can with people.
Interestingly, while I was out doing field work this summer as part of a research internship (and also having the time of my life), my research mentor noted to me that it was sometimes hard to follow along what I was saying, this due to me talking to things in three different categories…
- Other people (in this case my research mentor and one other person),
- Myself, and
- The grasses, forbs, shrubs, trees, insects, tarantulas, other animals, grass burs, the sky, and any other various entities in my surroundings
…which I switched between speaking to so quickly and naturally that it was often difficult to tell who I was addressing. I had not noticed this before, but once he pointed it out it became obvious. Curious to see if anyone has this sort-of tendency.
1 Like
I have often wondered if this describes me. Very shy as a child, very introverted although I played the game, very adverse to noisy environments, cannot remember faces, cannot remember music, but was great at engineering.
3 Likes
For me it was radios and engineering - I did not know what was trending, especially in the great music of the 60s and 70s and still can’t. But life under rocks can be interesting - all sorts of bugs live there. I do like trying to understand people and why and how they do what they do, and I greatly appreciate those who do it well and are good people. Life to me feels more like a spectator sport, although sometimes I do get punched.
6 Likes
Fantastic thread; looks like I’m in the right place :)
I’ve known I’ve been different my whole life but it wasn’t until this year when my younger son was diagnosed with autism and ADHD that I started digging into it. At first, just to find out how to be a better parent and guide to him as he was trying to make sense of the world. The more I dug, the more I saw… myself. What a revelation! I haven’t gotten an official diagnosis yet, and I’m not sure if I even want to. Anyway, my special interest/passion for trees (especially the American chestnut) has absolutely captivated me down to the very core of my being. I just keep going deeper into the rabbit hole trying to find out as much as I possibly can. I’ve had quite a few interests over the years that have equally consumed me. It’s been both an asset and a liability for me, but I wouldn’t change it even if I could.
9 Likes
That’s awesome, and very relatable! That’s the pathway a lot of people have to these awarenesses - through their kids. It was a factor for me as well though in a sort of different way.
4 Likes
I just came across this article on neurodiversity and climate activists. I thought of this conversation when I read it. It gave me some further insights
https://phys.org/news/2023-10-greta-thunberg-neurodivergent-climate-activist.html
3 Likes
That was an interesting read. Although the activism thing is not my style, the underlying desire to protect the things that are most vulnerable is very relatable for me. My mind focuses more locally, especially on the little things I can actually do to make the world a slightly better place. I think that mentality mostly comes from experience with 12 step work though. “Accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference” For me, if I get hyper focused on everything happening out there, I end up living inside my own head, completely missing out on the present moment and all the things I could be experiencing in it.
4 Likes
I like that article! I do think a lot of autistic and ADHD people are more likely to be activists (i don’t know with other types of neurodivergence). Some autistic and ADHD people conversely would want nothing to do with it. Generally we just tend to be extreme in multiple ways of our lives and those with extreme avoidance of anything activism related aren’t going to get noticed, but that being said, i think its true. I think in general autistic and ADHD people are more likely to be famous or prominent in their field, but also more likely to be unemployed, struggle in friendships/relationships, or commit suicide. It’s kind of a ‘more of everything’ type of thing.
I’m really good at talking about my hyperfocuses, and that can extend to activism. But mostly one way activism. When it comes to debating and arguing i tend to get overly invested and over the top, which just pisses people off. I also tend to be right about things which also pisses people off (no, really! I don’t tend to argue if i’m uncertain about something). Obviously ‘being right’ doesn’t extend to things that are a matter of opinion, like how taxonomic ranks work, so this isn’t a comment about that. I can be pretty hard set in my opinions too. Basically i’m a decent activist but i’m an awful politician. I don’t have a lot of tolerance for the social norms and wheeling and dealing of politics.
my brain didn’t get installed with the ability to do this, unfortunately. At least not for things related to human activity (i don’t try to fight with the heat death of the universe but in terms of human activity ‘that is just how it is’ doesn’t work on me). And it’s not a good thing. it’s one of the biggest ways that autism acts as a disability for me, even though in other areas it’s a strength. Most people just let go and move on to another fight. I’m just not good at that.
5 Likes
Decent activist, awful politician?
Oh my goodness, I am absolutely the SAME. I’ve been getting worse as I get older, I’ve just lost any ability to tolerate dogmatic, unscientific, unfounded, and harmful opinions. (I kind of blame the current state of US politics, the worse it gets the more I dig my heels in.)
Its honestly caused me a lot of issues with jobs. That and my incessant need for perfection and tendency to burn myself out HARD. Thankfully I finally have a position where I get to talk about mushrooms all day, so I’m currently just reveling in my satiated hyperfocus.
5 Likes