What Is Neurodiversity?

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Debates about any technology use must account for disability, including neurodiversity.

Neurodivergent (and other disabled) students rely on assistive technology like dictation.

Dictation apps are not LLMs. They’ve been around for decades, and neurodivergent people need them.

A few weeks ago, I shattered my sacrum, the lowest part of your spine, located in the center of your pelvis. Yes, I was doing a physical activity when the injury occurred, but I also have a chronic disability that makes me more prone to this type of injury. It is a massive, messy break.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever had to lie flat on your back for a long period of time, but even with all occupational therapy tools, it is difficult to write. Which is a problem when you are a full-time writer and a creative writing professor. I have two books forthcoming next year with copyedits due, and I have two book proposals that editors have requested. I have articles. More.

My work is so hard because I can’t sit at my desk. Typing is very difficult. But as of last week, I made a big discovery, and I am grateful.

I found a new, highly accurate dictation software that has made my disabled life more accessible. It is called Wispr Flow (or just Wispr). I’ve wanted to tell everyone all about it.

But then I learned that not everyone likes Wispr. On August 19, 2026, The New York Times published a hit piece about Wispr by Amy X. Wang. I was shocked to see the negative headline: “Everyone’s Using This A.I. Dictation App That I Want to Murder With a Hammer.”

There are many problems with Wang’s piece and its argument, but it is also very, very ableist.

As I’ve written before, these myriad debates over the ethics of technology throw disabled students (and others) under the bus. The Times piece does the same. Is Wispr, a seemingly innocuous dictation software, so special that it deserves an entire article in the paper of record? Is it killing good writing, as Wang asserts? Does it deserve the amount of vitriol it receives in the column? The answers are straightforward: No, No, and No.

Wispr, as dictation software goes, breaks little new ground. Wang notes this herself: “I hate that so many people in the world are lauding this like it’s the greatest invention.” She’s right. It’s not a new “invention.” It’s just the latest iteration of a tool........

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