University of Brighton fine Art (Painting) submission

A bus is not a ‘little bit rainbow’ because it also has red on it.

No, everyone is not a ‘little bit autistic/ ADHD’, obviously. If you want a great articulation of why this isn’t the case, read autistic content creator, Ella Willis’s LinkedIn post on the topic.

Interestingly, I’ve observed that how neurotypical people use and misuse this phrase (with seemingly increasing abandon) is diversifying, thereby warranting more thought on how we feel about it:

• Mixup of ‘spectrum’ vs ‘scale’. People conflate words all the time and definitely the terms ‘spectrum’ and ‘scale’. A rainbow doesn’t have a scale of greater or fewer colours, but a spectrum of specific colours observed within the category of ‘rainbow’. This means a red bus may share its red colour with a rainbow, but this does not make it a ‘little bit rainbow’. It’s just a bus. The same goes for autism and ADHD – the conditions are not on a scale from 0 to 100%, but a spectrum of experiences within their respective categories.

• Misplaced sympathy. When someone else is experiencing feelings of sadness, it’s social convention for others to share similar experiences, as it conveys the message that the person is not alone and their feelings are valid. This can also be the reflexive response to someone explaining their neurodivergence struggles – a kind of awkward ‘you’re not alone’ reaction. And it is awkward when the comparisons don’t work: if a person had fallen to the floor with a broken arm, it would be weird for the other person to try to reduce the ‘awks’ by standing over them and regaling them with a story of tweaking their arm yesterday at the gym.

• Malicious intent. In some situations, especially if toxic power dynamics are in play, the other person will seek to belittle the AuDHD’s person’s experience, which in this case implies they cannot cope with the same everyday struggles easily tackled by everyone else. This is particularly pernicious as not only are the AuDHD person’s basic capabilities in question, but a moral judgment is cast over their character – to say ‘everyone is a little bit autistic/ADHD’ in such a context is to say the individual is lying, selfish or lazy.

Neurotypical people generally don’t intend to be insensitive. Their prioritisation of social harmony means that, unless they are very aware of and comfortable with neurodivergence, they’ll instinctively try and gloss over anything they feel uncomfortable about with ostensibly inane phrases, like ‘but everyone’s a little bit…’

However, if you hear this annoying phrase and you have the energy to say something at the time, do so gently by pointing out one or more of the points above and remember that they’re only human.