Thank you for sharing this and I agree that a lot of autistic qualities are good for humanity as a whole - we would all be better off if we were more honest and less interested in social hierarchy! However, I think any sort of take like this has to also consider not just high-functioning autistic people but also low-functioning autistic people and those who care for them.
Thank you for telling your story. One more thing I would add to the list of ways autistic people are misunderstood is the assumption footed by some people that they are not capable of understanding their own gender identity. Transgender people who also happen to be autistic are being mistreated in this way.
It is precisely that differences in social communication create space for autistic people to choose from a wider range of identity options. No suprise that being trans or gay or w/e is somehow 'easier' for people who already knew that social conformity wasn't for them.
It's not really easier. But it makes more sense when you see it from that lens. Autistics will sacrifice a lot of comfort in exchange for being true to who and what we are.
Charles, I appreciate your views . Do you have an opinion on why autism rates have skyrocketed over the last 35 years or so. And if genetics are the reason what has changed ?
They aren't skyrocketing. We've always been here, in roughly the same proportions. What has changed is the scientific and social understanding of what autism is. It's a set of traits that usually lead to differences in cognition, emotional processing, communication and other areas. But only a minority - 10-15% - are what you might call disabled. The rest of us just wish there was space to be who we are.
Industrialization led to strong currents of mass conformity that made it harder for us to just be. Now we're in a moment where we can advocate for ourselves and choose strategies other than masking and conformity. This is good!
Thanks for the article…and your personal thoughts and experiences. But I disagree there is no increase. I was born in the 1960s and grew up in a small south florida town. In going through 13 years of school pre college - I rarely came across children with severe autism. I can recall a total of a handful of children throughout those 13 years. I actually still remember some of them 40 + years later. I still live in that same small ( though it has grown) town. We have several public charter schools exclusively for autistic children along with a dozen private schools in the county for children with autism. The majority of these children are severely autistic - including my daughter - and are non verbal or close to it and with other major challenges. There are over 1500 students in these schools. There are waiting lists and lotteries to gain entry. These are not children that can attend a standard private or public school. My daughter started at a local public school in a pre-k - the district designates certain schools as autism friendly and they are good at what they do…but children with severe autism are not able to stay in these schools. My area went from having zero schools dedicated to autistic children to having wait listed schools that number in the teens. That is a massive increase.
While you are personally able to write an article like this and read the comments and articulate your thoughts, there are hundreds and thousands of severely autistic children who never will be able to. I don’t know what “causes” autism but the children who will never be able to function independently at all - the parents of these children fret as to what will happen to their children when they are no longer around. Most of these parents don’t consider their children’s autism a super power. They welcome anyone who may be able assist in helping their/our children - be it RFK jr. Or anyone else.
Thank you for sharing this and I agree that a lot of autistic qualities are good for humanity as a whole - we would all be better off if we were more honest and less interested in social hierarchy! However, I think any sort of take like this has to also consider not just high-functioning autistic people but also low-functioning autistic people and those who care for them.
Thank you for telling your story. One more thing I would add to the list of ways autistic people are misunderstood is the assumption footed by some people that they are not capable of understanding their own gender identity. Transgender people who also happen to be autistic are being mistreated in this way.
It is precisely that differences in social communication create space for autistic people to choose from a wider range of identity options. No suprise that being trans or gay or w/e is somehow 'easier' for people who already knew that social conformity wasn't for them.
It's not really easier. But it makes more sense when you see it from that lens. Autistics will sacrifice a lot of comfort in exchange for being true to who and what we are.
Charles is a treasure. Thanks for bringing him in for a guest spot — and I hope he starts to share his thinking more!
Charles, I appreciate your views . Do you have an opinion on why autism rates have skyrocketed over the last 35 years or so. And if genetics are the reason what has changed ?
They aren't skyrocketing. We've always been here, in roughly the same proportions. What has changed is the scientific and social understanding of what autism is. It's a set of traits that usually lead to differences in cognition, emotional processing, communication and other areas. But only a minority - 10-15% - are what you might call disabled. The rest of us just wish there was space to be who we are.
Industrialization led to strong currents of mass conformity that made it harder for us to just be. Now we're in a moment where we can advocate for ourselves and choose strategies other than masking and conformity. This is good!
Thanks for the article…and your personal thoughts and experiences. But I disagree there is no increase. I was born in the 1960s and grew up in a small south florida town. In going through 13 years of school pre college - I rarely came across children with severe autism. I can recall a total of a handful of children throughout those 13 years. I actually still remember some of them 40 + years later. I still live in that same small ( though it has grown) town. We have several public charter schools exclusively for autistic children along with a dozen private schools in the county for children with autism. The majority of these children are severely autistic - including my daughter - and are non verbal or close to it and with other major challenges. There are over 1500 students in these schools. There are waiting lists and lotteries to gain entry. These are not children that can attend a standard private or public school. My daughter started at a local public school in a pre-k - the district designates certain schools as autism friendly and they are good at what they do…but children with severe autism are not able to stay in these schools. My area went from having zero schools dedicated to autistic children to having wait listed schools that number in the teens. That is a massive increase.
While you are personally able to write an article like this and read the comments and articulate your thoughts, there are hundreds and thousands of severely autistic children who never will be able to. I don’t know what “causes” autism but the children who will never be able to function independently at all - the parents of these children fret as to what will happen to their children when they are no longer around. Most of these parents don’t consider their children’s autism a super power. They welcome anyone who may be able assist in helping their/our children - be it RFK jr. Or anyone else.
You're just wrong.
https://www.statnews.com/2023/03/23/autism-epidemic-cdc-numbers/
"But only a minority - 10-15% - are what you might call disabled. The rest of us just wish there was space to be who we are."
Where do you get that number from?
"Autism spectrum disorder is a neurological disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave."--NIMH