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Now that we are in 2024, I’m pretty sure many of you are coming up with new year’s resolutions to follow up on for the next 12 months. When it comes to the neurodivergent population, there is something that many struggle to understand or not even realize that they are doing it.
On a social level, there is an old saying that the angel picks your friends, and the devil picks your family. Neurodivergent/developmentally different individuals mostly have a hard time finding those to connect with and believe me, I’ve been there. However, there are people out there that we think we are good for, but they end up becoming a bad influence on us.
This is reflected in family life, education and employment because when we are in these situations, we build relationships with those people without really taking a good look in the mirror to see who they really are.
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I put in the quote “he who lies down with dog, gets up with fleas” for a specific reason because even though we meet and see certain people frequently, we don’t get to see the real person under them. Now the extent of this quote was demonstrated on the classic TV series, “The Munsters” (1964-1966) in the episode “Come Back, Little Googie.”
In the episode, Eddie Munster starts hanging out with several bad apples and both Herman and Lilly along with Grandpa Munster warn him that if he goes with bad companions, then that some of the influence will rub off on him.
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A lot of neurodiverse individuals are like Eddie Munster because they don’t have the awareness of who they want to hang out with, particularly those who are seeking romantic relationships. I’ve been in situations where I want to be friends with neurodivergents whom I felt had a connection with, but they really didn’t have nor wanted anything to do with me.
Ever since then, I am very careful with building friendships in the neurodiversity community and that’s a good thing on account that had I become friends with those that I have a strong connection with because it took as much time as possible. Building strong connections take time and patience which is sometimes what neurodivergents don’t want to hear, but it’s true. Not everyone is going to be on the same level as you and have your best interests at heart, so be sure to find out who is on your level and who are those that can distribute their fleas on you.
As for who originated the quote, there are a few people that I could think of such as Benjamin Franklin, Jean Harlow or according to Herman Munster, “the guy who trains Lassie.”
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Catch you all later!!
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