Having diverse worlds and representing different types of people is a good thing. For something like skin colour, sexuality or gender it’s very easy to just say that your character posseses those qualities because it doesn’t necessarily change much about them. However, how do people feel about playing NPCs who are neurodivergent?
The main example I’m thinking of is someone with Down syndrome. I don’t have that lived experience to draw from because I don’t have Down syndrome, but I also feel that these people (like all people) can be valuable members of society and I don’t like to see them excluded. Therefore, I would want to see them in my fantasy worlds too. The problem is, I worry I’d mainly be falling back on stereotypes in a potentially harmful and offensive way.
EDIT: I would especially like other neurodivergent people to chime in, of course. Personally I really like to see representation for my neurodivergence in D&D and other literature, but also it can really upset me when it’s done badly and it’s worse than nothing at all
Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. I have Aspergers which is a form of Autism, and I very much fit all stereotypes save for one. The key, much like real life, is focusing on the strengths so you can compensate for the weaknesses.
I don’t have experience with Down syndrome myself, but think about if you were in there shoes. If you knew that you learned things slower and communicated slower than your peers would you rely on those for day to day life? No, you would compensate in some other way. When people say blind people have super human hearing, they don’t. They’re just compensating for not having sight. When people say kids with Aspergers are super smart, I can personally attest that we are not. We just are compensating for our lack of people skills.
Any “disability” will be like this. You have a shortcoming that no one else has to deal with, so you compensate somewhere else. If you want people with “disabilities” to shine in your story, focus on their strengths and have characters around them who can prop them up in their weaknesses. That’s definitely a conversation you need to have with your table, because if there’s no one, or no way to compensate for a weakness it’s like trying to build a house with sticks and stones. You’re basically going to end up with a hole in the ground, functional, but royally sucks. The surrounding people are extremely important to a neurodivergent’s success as that is what gives them the tools to build with, and if you have tools you can build a proper house.