Table 14 Guidelines for personality style measures for sublcinical neurodivergent traits
Guideline | Example |
|---|---|
Respect | |
Use a neurodiversity approach | ‘impaired’ versus ‘different’ |
Use gender-inclusive language | ‘he’ versus ‘they’ |
Think non-stereotypically | ‘I do not feel a desire for social interactions’ versus ‘I prefer social interactions to occur in certain ways’ |
Accept language preferences of the community | ‘person with autism’ versus ‘autistic person’ |
Differentiate between in-group and out-group interaction partners | ‘Other people tend to misunderstand me’ versus ‘Non-autistic people tend to misunderstand me’ |
Consider positive aspects of neurodiversity | authenticity, honesty, loyalty, and deep focus |
Involve the community in all its diversity | |
Accessibility | |
Be literal | ‘I rely on scripts when I talk with others’ versus ‘I plan how I will interact with others’ |
Be precise | ‘often’ versus ‘five times a day’ |
Be broad enough but not too general | Give at least two examples |
Do not assume awareness of strategies | ‘I look for strategies to appear more sociable’ versus ‘I make an effort to appear more sociable’ |
Address past and present behaviour | Add instructions like ‘Think about yourself both now and across your life’ |
Give additional room for explanation | Add optional free-text comments |