Potential Submitter (a "Hypothetical" Conversation)

Chris:  Hi, I'd like to submit a blog post! I have diabetes and ADHD.

Me:  Okay!

Chris:  I don't consider myself disabled or neurodivergent.

Me:  Then, what do you refer to yourself as?

Chris:  Normal! Able-bodied and neurotypical.

Me:  Okay... then, why submit to a blog for disabled/neurodivergent writers?

Chris:  Because I have ADHD and am diabetic.

Me:  But, you don't identify with the audience of the blog.

Chris:  I qualify, though!

Me:  Technically... you've been diagnosed. (Not knocking self-diagnosis.)

Chris:  So? How about it?

Me:  I'm sorry. I can't give you a label you don't want. Publication on the blog means you're either disabled or neurodivergent. I'd be forcing you into something.

Chris:  But, you see me as disabled and neurodivergent!

Me:  It's not up to me. If you feel like you aren't disabled or neurodivergent, this probably isn't the place for you.

Chris:  You're policing my identity! You're forcing me to say I'm something I'm not in order to get published. You're bigoted and exclusionist!

Me:  There are plenty of other places to publish your work, though. You don't need this place. Would you submit to a space for asexuals and demand entrance if you weren't ace?

Chris:  That's different. I'm not asexual. I have conditions that allow me to submit here!

Me:  ...

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If you don't consider yourself disabled or neurodivergent, if you see yourself as "normal", please don't submit here. This is a space for writers who legitimately consider themselves disabled and/or neurodivergent (or some variant words I wouldn't use for myself but boil down to the same thing).

This is our space... our place to be. We hope our allies will read and support us within it. And that our contributors are always proud to call this home.