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

[ByGrabtharsHammarWhatASaving]

Might be a good chance for anyone here who has or works with children with ASD to raise concerns about the NAS, the links between ASD and GID, and concerns in general about the effect of trans teaching in schools on children with ASD.

Oh yeh, that might help!

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-the-national-autism-strategy-think-autism-call-for-evidence

There is an autism awareness session for MPs running tomorrow so it's worth finding out if your MP went to it.

Thanks for raising this ByGrab, hope you don't mind if I link it to some other threads?

I emailed my MP in advance to ask him if he would attend the autism session. He said he would look into it.

Thank you for this. They want to know about care and support? My DH & DD have never got any.

Two surveys one for professionals, families and carers and the other

"A survey for any autistic person in England with a diagnosis of autism or who self identifies as autistic"

Fuck off with the self identifying as autistic

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!

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

different, more differentiating diagnostic criteria not 'difference'

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

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.

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

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