Dear advocate: please stop calling our chromosome disorder a “superpower”. It’s not a superpower; it causes defecits and disadvantage.
Naturally, I understand why you do so: to encourage those youngsters with a diagnosis, helping them to overcome their difficulties.
Perhaps you could say that their natural temperament — that sensitivity and kind character often identified in individuals — is a special gift. Maybe that’s a positive trait to dwell on.
But a superpower? I’m sorry, no. There is no power in the untreated diagnosis. Those who know what they have are the lucky ones: they will now be accessing treatments to counteract its worst effects.
For the rest, they will have only have known a lifetime of struggle, difficulty, delays and fatigue — very much anti-superpowers.
Maybe there’s a better way to advocate on behalf of those bestowed with that extra chromosome which causes so much havoc.
Last modified: 19 November 2022
