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.

Mh support isn't pills though and yes am I am replying to this as you are being very rude and I hadn't read this when I posted.

Mh support varies and there's nothing wromg with needing it, many people do. Shutting down in social situations can be supported, likewise anxiety and stress. Lot's of people suffer like this.

You are proving my point for me with your posts.

No, I am not. You are being deliberately ignorant.

But we don't have anxiety. We have autism

But doesn't the autism cause the anxiety, stress, burnout, shutting down? That was my understanding for the pp in regards to adjustments/ support and is also what i've seen/ heard people say previously.

So how autism presents differently in women and girls should be ignored and they should be shut out of the diagnosis process as they were before. The late diagnosed and people of colour who were not see before through no fault of their own should not get a diagnosis. We should not recognise that you can have Autism and AdHD or recognise sensory needs although extensive evidence shows otherwise.

Is that what I said? No it wasn’t.

That is what you’re saying if you say she’s got it right because that’s what she is saying.

This is what It's Frith said. Were apparently jumping on the bandwagon as we're late diagnosed

Nope, I have a ADHD husband, ASD DD17 and AuDHD DS14. It causes a lot of distress for all of them, and they’ll never function in the world of craziness we live in. My kids cannot manage noise or peoply places, wear headphones and really struggle at school. I
Doubt either will ever have a ‘normal’ job. We do however talk about the positives and the positive role models who are autistic. The person who said Einstein wasn’t autistic, albeit he was never diagnosed, as it wasn’t really a mainstream thing when he was alive, he certainly had many of the traits and I think he’d be classed as autistic or certainly ND, same with other geniuses like many painters, writers, musician etc

Just staggering! People are dismissing and decrying autism to the extent they’re referencing people just because they’re anti autism without even knowing what they’re actually saying. And these people allegedly work in schools! It beggars belief and simply isn’t ok or good enough.

I think the people who use the super power stuff really intolerable too. You may well think it is for you, but it is very self centred to think that is everyone else's experience. People like to jump on phrases like that because it minimises needs and perpetuates bullshit that minimal support is required for autistic people. My son IS profoundly autistic and it's exhausting and debilitating not just to him,but has hugely affected the rest of the family too.

Tik tok autism really hasn't helped autistic people at all and made life more difficult for those with really high support needs. Yes you might have days of overwhelm and not be great at caring for yourself and might not have a shower, but my son literally cannot do a thing for himself without me mainly doing it for him. This is all day, every day.

I think it's neither one or the other. There's such an incredible amount of negativity and sigma associated with autism - a lot of it perpetuated by parents. I think the idea of autism being a "gift" is trying to counteract some of the stigma which I think is a valuable thing.

There's another thread running at the moment with parents sharing their experiences of raising autistic children, highlighting all the wonderful parts of being autistic, including often being "gifted" in some areas of learning such as maths, while also sharing some of the very real challenges and things their children struggle with.

Reasonable adjustments.
(A) So sitting next to a window so they are in daylight rather than abrasive harsh light
(B) Working from home so if they feel overwhelmed they can regulate more easily
(C) Having understanding that sometime their natural propensity may be to be blunt and honest and direct owing a lack of understanding regarding social situations.
(D) Online shopping because the lighting and size of a shop can feel overwhelming and uncomfortable.

As an adult, it's easy to put these reasonable adjustments in place because an individual has more autonomy over day to day. As a child, you are in a system which doesn't allow any individual to have that autonomy. You are told where to sit, how to dress, what uniform to wear etc. By the time you have finished school, you may well have been impacted by a lack of facilitation of reasonable adjustments.

The point is for some people they are very disabled by their autism and are not gifted in anyway
Its fine for people to describe themselves or their child as having a super power
What is not fine is to make a blanket starement about autism being a super power for everyone

There you go dismissing people as neurotypical. People who don’t have autism are not neurotypical - they have a huge range of diversity of function many with ‘neurodiverse’ diagnoses and many with lifelong social communication and developmental difficulties. Others have acquired disabilities that can be even more debilitating. There is no such thing as neurotypical.

I do understand your point and agree with some of it, but I do think you can make that point without dismissing other people with autism as being 'a bit awkward and liking lists'. I don't think anyone has it easy, and whilst there might be a hierarchy of amount of need to function we don't need to make a hierarchy of compassion.

Edited typo.

There's another thread running at the moment with parents sharing their experiences of raising autistic children, highlighting all the wonderful parts of being autistic, including often being "gifted" in some areas of learning such as maths,

Lots of children’s autism books are like that: “You may have autism but don’t worry, you have an incredible talent at X so that is compensation”

It’s not a gift, it’s not a superpower, what it is is a difference. My dd strongly disagrees that it’s a disability, her autism makes her different not disabled. It’s a wide spectrum of course and it’s perfectly possible to have comorbidities. I think over time we will realise that there isn’t one condition, autism and it’s a symptom of many other things

Its also not a difference for everyone
This is what i mean about people making blanket statements
Your dsughter can view HER autism however she wants
However i can also say my son is profoundly disabled by his autism.

And your daughter speaks for herself only not the entire spectrum.

I'm autistic, as are my kids. I'm also ADOS trained so I can also contribute to "doing" the diagnosing... so I guess I've got a foot in as many camps as it's possible to have.

I'm also the person who does tend to get held up a lot in my professional circle and social circle as the example of how "well" you can do with autism - management level health professional, well known and regarded, cute kids, occasionally cute husband.

It's still a disability not a superpower - yes, I'm a lot more tuned into some things in assessments (I can spot some masking strategies like faking eye contact where my colleagues don't), but I do cognitively have to work hard as hell to get past things like sensory and auditory processing difficulties and doing the social dance things like meetings is harder work for me. I am blessed with an amazing group of colleagues who do understand that I work hard to be on an equal footing and contribute equally (I ask for minimal adjustments - I WFH more than some colleagues, I often have headphones on if I'm focusing on something in the office and recently I've used a couple of afternoons disability leave to be able to keep working through a killer period of autistic burnout) - I get told off by them for NOT giving into how tough things are a lot more... but I'm bloody stubborn and I do love my job.

And no, my experience of the world is not the same as someone with profound LD, multiple co-morbid conditions and an ASD diagnosis - I don't speak for them - but I might comment that - the light over there is really flickery and making an electric buzz - have you tried turning that off and seeing if that calms them down a bit - just because my sensory system has more in common with their processing and I can verbalise things they might not be able to.

As for my late diagnosis - I had a fucking miserable childhood. I'm a great case study that no amount of good kickings and bullying and telling off can knock the autism out of you because I spent most of my school days in bother for saying something "rude" or "looking at someone funny", or being interrogated by random groups of big kids for their amusement. Academic stuff - piece of piss, but GCSEs out the eyeballs don't make you friends, don't settle you into a job you're happy at, don't stop you falling into shit relationships because you can't read social norms and intentions.

My kids are very much "yeah, I'm autistic, means these things are a bit harder, what's for tea" in their view of things - but at least someone's essentially handed them the instruction manual for how their brains are wired so they've got a chance of working within the specifications of how they've been made up. I had none of that - and despite being a "success" - I only became that AFTER diagnosis, and I was a bloody failure before then.

Most of the critics of Uta Frith haven't bothered to read her recent work - they've read the dumbed down TES interview, and often not even that. Professor Frith has been researching Autism for longer than most of those who want to no debate her have been alive. Deplatforming older women without actually reading what they wrote is quite the thing these days - and misogyny incarnate.

@SirzyI don’t think it would be possible to split into clearer groups either. I don’t see how my now adult DS would fall into discrete categories or how this would help them.

DS1 is verbal and is cognitively average but will never live independently due to severe social anxiety. Even specialist educational placement failed and he is essentially housebound. He will only communicate with immediate family and is selectively mute with strangers so will panic and lock himself in his room if tradespeople visit the house etc.

DS2 was more commonly accepted as ASD/ADHD because of outward presentation (speech delay and obvious communication issues) but doesn’t have crippling anxiety and had ‘superior’ intellectual ability and is at uni and has a partner.

There are so many ways that strengths and weaknesses are displayed in an individual with differing functional impact during the life course. But these are specific spikes that are associated with autism as a specific disorder. Correct me if I am wrong but the diagnostic criteria does not specify that a person has to be non-verbal or incontinent to qualify.

I’m going to post this before checking because I have lost posts previously.

Don’t be ridiculous it’s quite clear her work has been read by those with expertise in the field. Disagreeing and highlighting extensive evidence over several years that invalidates her claims which she chooses to publish in inflammatory newspapers articles is not “deplatforming an older woman” or misogyny. The same would happen if she was male or younger.

However denying how a disability presents in 50% of the population and describing disabled autistic women as jumping on a band wagon is misogyny and ableist to boot. As is saying late diagnosed women, girls and people of colour are not genuine because they had the misfortune to be missed earlier in life through no fault of their own.