Review of the National Autism Strategy ‘Think Autism': call for evidence

itwouldtake I do see your point. I guess the solution is to push/campaign (as jessica says below) for better understanding/diagnostic services for adults in particular.

A lot of the conflict between autistic adult advocates and non-autistic parents of autistic kids is coming from self-diagnosed autistics.. This is my experience.

I totally understand why people claim to be autistic without diagnosis but I do think it’s not a good idea and I do think there are A LOT of people who believe they are autistic but are not seeing their situation clearly. I think the lumping together of people who have come to believe they are autistic and people who were diagnosed in childhood is bloody unhelpful and is massively detrimental to severely impacted autistics. It upsets me, and it DOES matter that it is happening in small local support groups because that is often ALL that is available.

I see direct correlation to women’s spaces, awards, opportunities and funding being invaded by transwoman....but it is social suicide to say so.

Read the criteria for yourself www.autism-society.org/dsm-iv-diagnostic-classifications/

A LD was a requirement for Classical Autism and that is why it is different to HF types.

Actually you're wrong, speech delay is what separates what the DSM called "Autistic Disorder" (also known as Kanner's autism or classic autism) from Aspergers Syndrome. If a person had an IQ over 70 and no clinically significant speech delay (as in they spoke before three) they would have been diagnosed with Aspergers. But if a person had an IQ over 70 and delayed speech, they would be diagnosed with autism.
A learning disability has never been a requirement for a diagnosis of Kanner's autism.
In fact when the criteria was first drawn up by Kanner they excluded individuals with a learning disability (and those with epilepsy) because they wrongly believed such conditions could not co-exist.

prawn good luck with diagnosis!

jessica I totally agree that it's annoying when everyone says they think they're a 'bit autistic'. It's also inaccurate. But if we ignore absurd claims about an 'explosion' of autism (bollocks) then it stands to reason that similar percentages of adults (as children) will be autistic, knowingly or unknowingly. Pursuing a diagnosis can be well nigh impossible unless you can afford to go private, so many of those 'identifying' as autistic most probably are.

Thingybob, that's a misreading of what Spartacus said...
and the ASD diagnosis shouldn't determine whether you get a lot or a little support, that should be needs based. In theory, in reality almost nobody's getting the support they need.

I'll be particularly interested in this because I'm currently being assessed as an adult for ASD. I've had four 2.5 hour sessions and am waiting for the feedback session. Then we move on to strategies.

I found out I might have ASD when DB2's psychiatrist suggested he had (he was originally seeing the psych for bipolar). DB2 and I are very alike and have both been recognized as weird, even by those who love us. Then I came across a thread on Mumsnet which listed a whole bunch of issues I suffer with.

From what I've read on this thread I've been very lucky to be referred and assessed so thoroughly.

Oh and also include those who thought they should wear glasses but had never had an eye test.

As for the blind analogy, we wouldn't be helping anyone if we grouped all blind and glasses wearing people together as sight impaired.

PinkSpiderplant I know a lot about it and how hard it is to get a diagnosis for a female as my daughter is diagnosed. That does not mean self identifying is a good thing, and actually it is becoming a fad with lots of people saying they ‘identify as autistic’ on their Twitter bios etc so no, not patronising, based on reality actually. An adult saying they think they’re on the spectrum, is not the same as someone self identifying advocating or speaking for people with autism. Instead of accepting self identification, I prefer to campaign for better care and more services for those who suspect they are on the spectrum but can’t get a referral.

I also agree that the general ‘autism’ term can be unhelpful and confusing if it is used to describe everyone and that different terms, like asperger’s, is more helpful and more accurate. Yes they still use it, but in our diagnosis it said ‘ the condition we used to describe as asperger’s’, really not helpful language. The diagnostic criteria isn’t ‘watered down’ but it also isn’t very good and it’s clearly been devised by neuro typical people.

A LD was a requirement for Classical Autism and that is why it is different to HF types.

different, more differentiating diagnostic criteria not 'difference'

thingybob well for a start your neighbour has a severe learning disability (not part of ASD criteria) which will make a huge difference. But as for the autism spectrum, it is not watered down. That is just really ignorant. There may be significant differences in presentation, and levels of need, and there are those who would welcome back difference, more differentiating diagnostic terms. But this does not mean the diagnostic criteria has been watered down.

Spartucus, please see my other reply. ASD does group everyone together and I, like Simon Baron Cohen feel it needs to be sub catogorised again.

I'm very well informed on ASDs and have never felt that grouping everyone together helps anyone and self identifying is watering down the definition even more. Please tell me what the Governess from The Chase has in common with my non verbal, severe learning disabled, 10 year old neighbour?

Thingbob you don't sound very well informed. The 'umbrella' term ASD introduced in the DSM-5 in 2013 captures all previous diagnoses (eg aspergers), just with a different terminology. Referring to 'every Tom, Dick or Harry' is just really ignorant and insulting, just because you might not understand the more subtle presentations of autism.

ASD has already become such a huge umbrella term that it has become almost meaningless without including every Tom, Dick and Harry who self identifies.

Jessica plenty of people in the autistic community self-identify as autistic. Nothing to do with faddishness. That's quite patronising. It has more to do with poor recognition of autism in females, poor recognition in general prior to maybe 10(?) years ago, and the difficulties of getting a referral in adulthood (I know many people who've been flatly refused a referral by their gp, or who've been told their borough doesn't carry out adult diagnoses), and no doubt a whole host of other reasons. To say 'fuck off' to those who recognise that they are autistic (perhaps by having autistic children and therefore understanding it better) is pretty discriminatory.

PinkSpiderplant are you genuinely asking why posters have an issue with ‘self identifying’ as autistic? Think about it. This isn’t a fad. It isn’t something you identify as. It’s a diagnosed condition.

* 'Fuck off with the self identifying as autistic*'. Why?

Self identifying? What the actual fuck. That is enraging.

Fuck off with the self identifying as autistic

Quite. I’m starting to think we should adopt the Hells Angels approach.

You don’t get in unless you are nominated by a member, then you spend a year or so as a prospect before you are eventually accepted.

Fuck off with your tourists and weekend autistics!