Changelings: Faeries, Neurodivergence, and Human Scapegoats

Changelings: Faeries, Neurodivergence, and Human Scapegoats

A newborn “swapped” in the night sounds like pure horror movie fuel, but the changeling legend gets even darker when you trace what it often covered up in real life. We start with one of the most chilling threads in European folklore: the changeling myth and the fae.

We walk through traditional fairy lore the Seelie and Unseelie courts, the idea of an imposter left in the cradle, and the eerie “signs” people swore proved a child wasn’t human. 

Then the conversation turns toward the uncomfortable history behind the stories. Many descriptions line up with what we now recognize as autism, neurodivergence, developmental disabilities, genetic disorders, and childhood illness. Without modern medicine, communities reached for superstition, and that superstition became permission to scapegoat the most vulnerable.