‘Insisting that only Kanner’s 1943 description defines legitimate autism is not a commitment to scientific precision. It is a refusal to engage with eight decades of progress in developmental psychology, neuroscience, communication studies, disability research, and autistic scholarship. It is a strategy that freezes autism in a moment of history when only the most visible and most impaired cases could be recognized, while ignoring the countless individuals who lived outside clinical gaze.’
This gatekeeping behaviour can also kill people who are not as able as you Scott to advocate for themselves; if this person cared at all they would never write what they have or think how they do? It is beyond civilised discussion / words?
This is an OUTSTANDING expose of one ADA's behavior that lays bare the attitudes that simmer beneath the surface of so many ND people's interactions. Well done, and thank you.
Another group of people who refuse to understand autistic people are anti vaxxers.
They are the same people who make it about themselves, and cry about how their son’s autism “ruined their lives.” They can show off scientific evidence that “autism is caused by vaccines”, and have no problem guilt tripping you as an idiot for not blindly believing their truths.
I gotten into an altercation with an Anti-Vaxx Boomer, she said Autism is a brain injury, and can be cured. She also had the nerve to say that “Autism is a choice” and that people like myself need to “Toughen Up.”
If that lady said that to my face, I would had no issue slapping her in the face. Autism isn’t a choice, you stupid bitch. Autistic people aren’t stimming or having a meltdown because they enjoy making your life hell on earth. It’s because it’s part of the condition, your kind willfully chooses to be ignorant about.
I’m used to it. These people are the most selfish, entitled, manipulative, and opportunistic people I have ever known. Always make it about themselves. No Autistic Person is allowed to disagree or be suspicious of the questionable sources they preach.
The first psychologist to evaluate me (I was 40, she was in her late 20’s, I’d guess) was a young woman who dismissed me as autistic within the first few minutes of our initial phone call, days before any in-person assessments would be conducted. She wrote in my report that because I expressed anxiety that I came off as rude or abrupt, my worry was “not consistent with people who have autism”.
Other reasons I couldn’t possibly autistic included having a friend I share text messages with and knowing why I am uncomfortable making eye contact.
Later, I’d read about Leo Kanner and his influence on autism evaluations in the US, especially. Even more research revealed a trend by psychiatrists to dismiss hyperlexic and highly verbal autistic people as having Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder, which is what she diagnosed me with.
I was lucky—I found another psych a year later who diagnosed me as autistic (quite a lot out of pocket, but we made it work) and I got the help that I needed. Others are not so fortunate. A young friend of a family member was dismissed for similar ignorant reasons only a few weeks ago. Thank you for writing this.
My apologies. What I meant to say was the Non Autistic people who pretend to care about Autistic People when it personally benefits them. The ones who share biased data, the ones who expect you to blindly believe, “Autism is caused by vaccines.” and if you deny it, they’ll call you names and insult you.
Those are the ones who make it about themselves, and how their child’s autism ruined their marriage and life. The ones who treat their kids as nuisances, and emotionally abuse and exploit them behind closed doors. The ones who treat Jenny McCarthy as a Doctor and a Saint. Those are the Non Autistic People I speak of. The ones who expect Autistic People to be obedient dogs who never question their sources or their beliefs.
I’m not sure this guy understands what autism is, but he may want to go and research narcissism as his tactics would fit in with that perfectly. Professional/ethical aspect aside, sadly he sounds just like my parents. 🙄
So sorry you had to endure that treatment. It’s borderline abusive tbh, at the very least.
I am so sorry that you had to experience this. Being invalidated and attacked by a „professional“ is terrible. I would go as far as saying it can be traumatic. It’s a clear abuse of the power these psychologists hold. It violates every single code of conduct, starting with the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm …
I had been in longterm CBT for about 18 months, following a severe relapse into burnout, when I got my autism diagnosis. My therapist discouraged me beforehand to get myself assessed („this is complete nonsense!“), yelled at me when I shared with her several written papers about female high-functioning autists („you will not force me to read up on a topic I deem irrelevant!) and dismissed my diagnosis when I received it from another experienced professional psychologist specialized on the female autists („I don’t care what they say - you are the least autistic person I ever met!“)
The whole exchange floored me. I dutifully completed my last three session with the abusive therapist - now I wonder why I did that, but I think back then, I was terrified and under shock.
I completed all her wrap-up questionnaires. These were trying to prove and quantify how she rescued me from a severe depression, which I never had in the first place. The A-word was not mentioned once in these sessions and she never referred to my autism diagnosis.
I was supposed to go back 6 and 12 months after for a check-up. I wrote to her an email asking for appointments and mentioning how much I had improved post-diagnosis. I got a curt, dismissive reply and then decided I will not see this person again, ever.
It was in my therapist‘s power to help me go through the whole earth-shattering, mind-blowing experience of getting diagnosed at age 52. Instead, she chose to abuse her power. I was glad that I had the backup of my psychiatrist and neurologist, my occupational therapist, my family and friends. Otherwise her actions would have brought on another severe relapse and identity crisis …
This:
‘Insisting that only Kanner’s 1943 description defines legitimate autism is not a commitment to scientific precision. It is a refusal to engage with eight decades of progress in developmental psychology, neuroscience, communication studies, disability research, and autistic scholarship. It is a strategy that freezes autism in a moment of history when only the most visible and most impaired cases could be recognized, while ignoring the countless individuals who lived outside clinical gaze.’
This gatekeeping behaviour can also kill people who are not as able as you Scott to advocate for themselves; if this person cared at all they would never write what they have or think how they do? It is beyond civilised discussion / words?
This is an OUTSTANDING expose of one ADA's behavior that lays bare the attitudes that simmer beneath the surface of so many ND people's interactions. Well done, and thank you.
Thank you for the kind words and support!
Another group of people who refuse to understand autistic people are anti vaxxers.
They are the same people who make it about themselves, and cry about how their son’s autism “ruined their lives.” They can show off scientific evidence that “autism is caused by vaccines”, and have no problem guilt tripping you as an idiot for not blindly believing their truths.
I gotten into an altercation with an Anti-Vaxx Boomer, she said Autism is a brain injury, and can be cured. She also had the nerve to say that “Autism is a choice” and that people like myself need to “Toughen Up.”
If that lady said that to my face, I would had no issue slapping her in the face. Autism isn’t a choice, you stupid bitch. Autistic people aren’t stimming or having a meltdown because they enjoy making your life hell on earth. It’s because it’s part of the condition, your kind willfully chooses to be ignorant about.
WOW! I am sorry you had to experience that.
I’m used to it. These people are the most selfish, entitled, manipulative, and opportunistic people I have ever known. Always make it about themselves. No Autistic Person is allowed to disagree or be suspicious of the questionable sources they preach.
The first psychologist to evaluate me (I was 40, she was in her late 20’s, I’d guess) was a young woman who dismissed me as autistic within the first few minutes of our initial phone call, days before any in-person assessments would be conducted. She wrote in my report that because I expressed anxiety that I came off as rude or abrupt, my worry was “not consistent with people who have autism”.
Other reasons I couldn’t possibly autistic included having a friend I share text messages with and knowing why I am uncomfortable making eye contact.
Later, I’d read about Leo Kanner and his influence on autism evaluations in the US, especially. Even more research revealed a trend by psychiatrists to dismiss hyperlexic and highly verbal autistic people as having Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder, which is what she diagnosed me with.
I was lucky—I found another psych a year later who diagnosed me as autistic (quite a lot out of pocket, but we made it work) and I got the help that I needed. Others are not so fortunate. A young friend of a family member was dismissed for similar ignorant reasons only a few weeks ago. Thank you for writing this.
Thank you for sharing your experience and your kind words.
My patience and tolerance for these types of autistic people is inexistent at this point.
My apologies. What I meant to say was the Non Autistic people who pretend to care about Autistic People when it personally benefits them. The ones who share biased data, the ones who expect you to blindly believe, “Autism is caused by vaccines.” and if you deny it, they’ll call you names and insult you.
Thank you for clarifying this. 👌🏻
Those are the ones who make it about themselves, and how their child’s autism ruined their marriage and life. The ones who treat their kids as nuisances, and emotionally abuse and exploit them behind closed doors. The ones who treat Jenny McCarthy as a Doctor and a Saint. Those are the Non Autistic People I speak of. The ones who expect Autistic People to be obedient dogs who never question their sources or their beliefs.
I’m not sure this guy understands what autism is, but he may want to go and research narcissism as his tactics would fit in with that perfectly. Professional/ethical aspect aside, sadly he sounds just like my parents. 🙄
So sorry you had to endure that treatment. It’s borderline abusive tbh, at the very least.
Thank you. I definitely think it is a problem in more from this field than just this one.
the linkedin chat link is broken
I am so sorry that you had to experience this. Being invalidated and attacked by a „professional“ is terrible. I would go as far as saying it can be traumatic. It’s a clear abuse of the power these psychologists hold. It violates every single code of conduct, starting with the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm …
I had been in longterm CBT for about 18 months, following a severe relapse into burnout, when I got my autism diagnosis. My therapist discouraged me beforehand to get myself assessed („this is complete nonsense!“), yelled at me when I shared with her several written papers about female high-functioning autists („you will not force me to read up on a topic I deem irrelevant!) and dismissed my diagnosis when I received it from another experienced professional psychologist specialized on the female autists („I don’t care what they say - you are the least autistic person I ever met!“)
The whole exchange floored me. I dutifully completed my last three session with the abusive therapist - now I wonder why I did that, but I think back then, I was terrified and under shock.
I completed all her wrap-up questionnaires. These were trying to prove and quantify how she rescued me from a severe depression, which I never had in the first place. The A-word was not mentioned once in these sessions and she never referred to my autism diagnosis.
I was supposed to go back 6 and 12 months after for a check-up. I wrote to her an email asking for appointments and mentioning how much I had improved post-diagnosis. I got a curt, dismissive reply and then decided I will not see this person again, ever.
It was in my therapist‘s power to help me go through the whole earth-shattering, mind-blowing experience of getting diagnosed at age 52. Instead, she chose to abuse her power. I was glad that I had the backup of my psychiatrist and neurologist, my occupational therapist, my family and friends. Otherwise her actions would have brought on another severe relapse and identity crisis …
I am sorry you had that horrific experience. I can even imagine how you felt. Thank you for sharing.