To find this view re autism frustrating

[Pleasenomorespiders]

Somebody today tried to argue that autism is simply a 'gift' because people like Einstein supposedly had it, I suppose they're talking about people on the spectrum being more gifted and talented in some areas.
This person must surely realise it's a spectrum and has failed to mention how debilitating autism can be, how much people with it can struggle in every aspect of life and may never be able to have a 'normal' life.

Calling it a 'gift' is nice, they're only thinking about high-functioning individuals who as I say have heightened awareness and notice patterns, artistically or mathematically gifted, or whatever it may be. Autism is simply not 'just seeing the world differently'. Many individuals will never have a job or a relationship.

Defintley people can only speak on behalf of themselves or their children
Its really unhelful to generalise and minimise other peoples situations

Absolutely. But I witnessed (and been a target of this too) people being very critical and trying to shut other people down, especially if you are a NT parent of a ND child, and some people also like riding on a high moral horse. I remember someone telling another parent they dont have a right to use the term 'autism mum/dad' because this focuses too much on their own experience as a parent and not that of a child...

I have 12 year old with AuDHD. It is not a gift for him. He isn’t ‘gifted’. He gets by. He doesn’t thrive.
According to the assessments he is right up there with his problem solving skills but there is no evidence of that in day to day life. He isn’t lucky to be neurodivergent. He will be fine and his life will be ok but he will always struggle and I doubt he will ever achieve what he would have been capable of without his neurodivergence.
I will always support him and encourage him but it is utterly exhausting.

newn.cam.ac.uk/person/uta-frith

Yes i have seen this stay away from most online autism groups for this reason.

I think “spectrum” means that people expect a spectrum like a gas cooker knob rather than a spectrum like a light array. If you have a particular combination of strengths and weaknesses, yes, it may feel like a superpower at least some of the time. Or the strengths can cover off against some of the weaknesses. That’s how I feel about myself, despite a “Level 2” / moderate needs diagnosis.

I would also prefer if Asperger’s (or equivalent) was still in use as a term.

They are talking rubbish. Do they have experience with autism?

I was told I shouldn't say that summer holidays for SEN children and their parents are hard because it means I am saying ND children are a burden and she loves having her ND children at home whilst mine is constantly destroying the house.

Just had my son confirmed as autistic today at four.

Yep, I get very on edge when I hear people say this. It is not a gift nor is it a superpower. My almost 8 year old DS is completely non verbal (although he screams and screeches and wails so it's generally impossible to be out and about with him, it's non verbal in the sense of no words at all), he is incontinent, has no bowel control and although we tried to get him to understand pees in the toilet, because he has to wear pull ups for his constant bowel leakage he is lazy with pees, doesn't understand so just pees too in his pull up. So that's fun having to take him to the toilet out and about as well (many disabled toilets are shut and I am on the edge of taking him into the women's now so it's my husband that has to take him mostly).

He cannot read or write, ride a bike, swim, hold cutlery, follow instructions, understand road safety or stranger danger. He will take people's hands without any thought so we have to always be on high alert. He is disabled, basically. It's the complete opposite of a superpower FFS.

I don't want him to be like this, I don't know if he will ever be independent, it's looking unlikely so we are his carers until we die. Which isn't the life either of us wanted. But we love him, so we do it.

Autism should not be defined as a spectrum; I have no idea why there was a medical decision recently to lump the mildest ones who sometimes have a meltdown when asked to do things but can hold down jobs, friends, are continent, have speech etc etc with my son. It frustrates the hell out of me. I also do not think my DS should be in a mainstream school, and I'm trying to get that sorted too. It should be specialised schools and we do not have the money to send him private, so the fight continues on and on, every day. To advocate for him. I resist the urge to get angry when random people tell me it's a gift and a superpower. They can fuck the fuck off with that shite. Sorry. Rant over.

It's been a hard day today - he's kicked me twice and is currently hitting and punching himself because I had to change him and wipe his bum. This will continue for about 20 mins then I need to try and clean it all up. My DH has jumped off his work call to calm him and I'm upstairs feeling upset. Again. This is daily, sometimes hourly. School holidays need to end soon.

Agree
it’s in the same category of ‘handicapable’

This kind of things really annoys me as the saying goes if you have met one person with autism you have met one person with autism
School holidays paticuatly the summer one can be very challenging
For parents of children with autism
My son is 16 now and still very destructive
Thankfully we do get respite now though

If you havent already look on your LAs local offer to see whats avdilable locally for childrem with autism
Meeting other parents with children witn similar needs helped me alot in the early days.

Dont know who Professor Uta Smith is as I gogoled and the name doesnt come up anywhere.
@Ladyfromthehill

I had never heard of her until yesterday, but she was widely quoted in a front page story in The Times. Apparently she is the emeritus professor of cognitive development at UCL.

Essentially she seemed to be saying what a lot of people here have, that putting too many different problems under a single diagnosis is not helpful. I guess she means including what used to be called Asperger's in to ASD.

In the article she said the diagnosis was being applied to people whose lives and needs had little resemblance to one another, from children with profound disabilities who require lifelong care to adults with subtle symptoms who live independently.

She called for the spectrum to be split into clearer groups.

There was more in the article but I can't link it as The Times is behind a firewall and I just have a paper copy but I have attached photos

It's weird how defensive neurotypical people get when autistic people say this.

I am also autistic, and derive a great deal of joy from it. Yes, by a lot of standards I'm not a "success", but they're not my standards.

It's like that with a lot of other disabilities though - they're not all the same but are lumped together. But no one complains about that

I hate this 'superpower' nonsense. Autism may have some advantages but it can make everyday life very difficult.

I don’t think it would be possible to split it into clearer groups because it is such a wide spectrum. Trying to shoehorn someone into a smaller box isn’t going to help anyone and if anything would lead to more stereotypes and more barriers to what little support is available.

I get why people want it but I don’t think it’s realistic.

I am 12 years in battling for my ASD child. Anybody who dreams this is a gift is delusional, yes there are precious traits I would never change, but….
If I could for just one day make life simpler in a non-ND way for them I would in a heartbeat.

I don't think they were defensive at all. They just found it amusing.

It was a pretty silly comment to be fair.

I think a read an article by her in new scientist recently too; it makes sense. I'm sure she's been in this field since the 1960s or 70s.

My 12 year old GS doesn’t have any friends and hasn’t been invited to a party since reception class. Hes so fearful of the world that he can become almost catatonic. He’s got severe speech and language communication issues as well as ASD. He also happens to be above average intelligence and is top sets in all subjects. It’s not a fucking gift. He’s so sad in this world.

Why do you say her autusm is a gift, not her high IQ that has enabled her to utilise techniques to manage it?

I have autism (Asperger's syndrome was the term used when I was diagnosed more than a decade ago) and for me it is definitely not a gift. I am by no means vastly more intelligent than the average person nor do I have some kind of savant mathematical or musical talent that makes up for my lack of social skills. I am socially and professionally very behind my peers because of my autism. To be perfectly honest, I would give anything to be a neurotypical person. Many things that are simple for other people are challenging for me.

There's no hard proof that Einstein had autism because he was born well before the condition was routinely diagnosed.

Autism professionals, researchers, and neurodiversity advocates have heavily criticised Uta Frith for both her foundational cognitive theories and her highly controversial modern commentary on diagnostic thresholds.She doesn’t like the way the autism diagnosis process has been changed to recognise how it differs in women and girls and how people can have both adhd and autism.

https://www.autism.org.uk/blog/challenging-misinformation-about-autism-using-evidence-to-correct-false-claims

https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/news/our-response-to-professor-dame-uta-friths-new-paper

The main criticisms of her work are structured across several key areas:

1. Rejection of the Autism Spectrum and Masking

In several high-profile publications and interviews, Frith claimed that the autism spectrum has "collapsed" or "widened to the point of collapse" because it encompasses too broad a group of people. She also dismissed autistic masking which as having "no scientific basis".

Organisations like the National Autistic Society and various autism academics swiftly countered that subtyping or artificially narrowing autism is entirely theoretical and clinically unhelpful. Critics argue that dismissing masking ignores over a decade of robust scientific research linking the practice to profound mental health difficulties, autistic burnout, and high suicide rates.

1. Exclusion of Late-Diagnosed Adults and Women

Frith proposed that early-diagnosed individuals (often with accompanying intellectual disabilities or language delays) and late-diagnosed individuals are fundamentally two different populations, suggesting only the former should be considered "genuinely" autistic.

Clinicians and advocates state that this criteria acts as a "contraindicator" that systematically invalidates and excludes autistic women, people of colour, and late-recognized adults who were simply overlooked in childhood due to outdated diagnostic tools. Critics argue that her focus prioritizes an observer-biased, external clinical presentation over the internalized, subjective reality of autistic individuals.

1. Faulty Deficit-Based Theories (Theory of Mind & Weak Central Coherence)

Frith is famous for pioneering the Theory of Mind deficit hypothesis (the idea that autistic people cannot attribute mental states to others) and the Weak Central Coherence theory (the idea that they process details rather than the "big picture").

Empirical research published in places like the National Instituted of Health has shown that Theory of Mind tasks often fail to replicate, do not correlate with real-world social interaction, and promote a harmful "unfeeling robot" stereotype. Furthermore, contemporary professionals heavily favour theories like Monotropism (an attention-allocation theory) over Frith's deficit models, arguing that her early paradigms pathologies a different processing style rather than an inherent clinical failure.

1. Dismissal of Sensory Accommodations

Frith has expressed skepticism regarding the validity and widespread use of sensory aids, such as ear defenders or fidget tools, characterising them as trends that might not benefit children.

Autism professionals and educational specialists argue that this viewpoint ignores extensive empirical evidence regarding sensory hypersensitivity in autism. Removing or discouraging sensory accommodations is widely viewed by practitioners as actively harmful to an autistic person's ability to self-regulate and navigate overwhelming environments.

Frankly her views re shutting out women, girls, people of colour and the late diagnosed ( through no fault of their own) from the diagnosis process alone are despicable let alone the rest.

There is no such thing as ‘neurotypical’.

Just don't engage with people spouting crap.
One of the conditions of getting a diagnosis..is ..it has to significantly impact the persons life
If it doesn't significantly impact their life ..no diagnosis,not autistic.
To many people self diagnosing ..I don't engage with them either ..come back to me when you have an actual diagnosis,and I will entertain what you say