As I write this, the words ‘Neurodiversity’, ‘Neurodivergent’ and ’Neurodiverse’ are underlined in a wiggly red line, like they’re not a thing. 

Isn’t it unbelievable that in 2022, we still have to tell our computers those words exist?

That whether we’re typing on our phones, tablets or desktop computers, we keep being subliminally reminded that this world is biased towards neurotypical-ness?* 

That we have to ‘ignore typo’ when we write it in a Word document, email or whatsapp, tweet or FB post? (Unless we manually change it from the default in settings)

What kind of a message does that send to the 1 in 7 child or adult who is neurodivergent? It’s challenging enough to live in a round hole world with an invisible condition that not everyone believes is real.... How are we ever going to make inclusivity happen if people still think we’re a typo? 

Sure, society is slowly becoming more accepting of divergent brain types from ADHD to Dyslexia to Autism. But when all the world’s tech giants don’t even recognise the word ‘Neurodiversity’ itself as a word in their default lexicon, we clearly still have a way to go. Some apps only have ‘neurodivergent’ left to go, some like Microsoft Word still have all three. The goal is to get all three added everywhere, to the default dictionaries!

Caveat: I’m not a techy person - I’m a writer/comedian from Brighton who is never in the right version of a document - so I've no idea how to get to whoever controls the spellchecks in Silicon Valley. But since it’s #ADHDAwarenessMonth I’ve started this petition so we can collectively put the pressure on. More specific details are below, but the ask itself is pretty simple: 

Dear Apple, Chrome, Gmail, Safari, Firefox, Meta: Please could you go into the ‘backend’ of your programmes, apps and browsers, and click ‘Add To Dictionary’ or ‘Learn Spelling’ for any of the words the words Neurodiversity, Neurodivergent and Neurodiverse that aren’t already added? Thank you!

Please let’s see the back of that pesky wiggly red line... for the sake of inclusivity, and for all the neurodivergent people feeling like square pegs. After all, the ones who 'think different' are the ones that change things... the ones that push the human race forward, right Apple? 

Sign/share/RT if you agree this tiny tweak needs to happen... and if you agree that neurodivergents are trailblazers, not typos :)

Thank you!

Lorelei Mathias, author, comedian & ADHD-er, UK.

* Ok, so maybe that one’s not quite a word. Yet…

APPENDIX/MORE TECHY DETAIL:

I’ve been trying to get this changed for 2 years now by speaking about it in interviews and since then Google have added it to Docs and Apple have added it to Keynote, which is great progress! But from a quick look it’s still an issue across programmes. 

I just typed out three words 'Neurodiverse', 'Neurodivergent' and 'Neurodiversity' on a range of devices, apps and browsers. At least one of those three words still gets underlined when you write it in Instagram, Whatsapp, Facebook, all Apple devices and Microsoft Word, and in browsers such as Firefox, Chrome Mobile it's still an issue.

Some apps only have ‘neurodivergent’ left to go, some like Microsoft Word (shame on you!) still have all three. The goal is to get all three added everywhere!

More specific examples:

- [ ] FB app on a phone - red lines on Neurodivergent’ and ‘Neurodiverse’ and ‘Neurodiversity’.

- [FB in browser on ipad or macbook] - Only red lines on 'Neurodiverse'.

- [ ] Insta on phone - red lines on Neurodivergent

- [ ] Google chrome mobile - red lines on Neurodivergent 

- [ ] iphone mail app - Red lines on neurodiversity

- [ ] gmail app on mobile - Neurodivergent red lines

- [ ] gmail app on ipad - red lines on Neurodivergent’ and ‘Neurodiverse’ and ‘Neurodiversity’

- [ ] Microsoft Word - red lines on Neurodivergent’ and ‘Neurodiverse’ and ‘Neurodiversity’