Autism First Mondays

The first of the Autism First Monday blog posts, and it isn’t on the first Monday. It looks like a broken resolution, but January 6 was the first Monday this month and Epiphany is not a movable feast. Autism First Mondays will be on first Mondays unless some other event comes then or I have writer’s block. Some days I can write prolifically, some days I try to write all morning only to change one comma, only to put it back in the afternoon, and some days I cannot find the right worm to say. (Deliberate, not a typo!) Having conflicting neurodiversities can be a distraction.

Starting with this:

What is this autism stuff anyway?

This autism stuff is defined medically by three criteria, these are from DSM-5 the latest diagnostic manual at the time of writing:

• Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction.
• Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.
  • Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period.
  • Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.
  • These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) or global developmental delay.

Yes I can count there are 5 categories here, but the last three are taken together giving the 3 categories

These definitions come from the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. I find words such as deficits, impairments, and disturbances disturbing. Also, previous diagnoses have been grouped into one, ASD, (Autism Spectrum Disorder). The whole thing is, because this is a medical diagnosis, they are looking for things that are broken and need to be fixed.

DSM-5 weakness is that it defines autism only by deficiencies. It ignores any strengths an autistic person may have.

Not all Autistics, myself included like being defined by what other people think are our deficiencies. It’s a bit like describing the comic book hero Superman by his reaction to Kryptonite, ignoring his super-strength, x-ray vision and ability to fly. But there is another way, defining us by what we can do. That way is the neurodivergence way. We’re still different but without the stigma.

Neurodiversity

The public view of autism began to take on a more positive view in the 1990s, thanks to two things: celebrities such as Chris Packham, Christine McGuinness, and Gary Numan being open about their autism and what is known as the neurodiverse movement. These celebrities and many others show that it is still completely possible to live a happy and successful life as an autistic person—including being successful in work as an autistic person.

But first a some definitions as to what the words mean:

• Neurodiversity: Everybody’s brain is wired a little differently from everyone else’s.
• Neurodivergent and neurodiverse: A term used to describe someone whose brain processes information, learns, or behaves differently from what is considered “typical”. Neurodivergent peopel also have different strengths and struggles from that which is typical. Neurodivergences include autism, ADHD and dyslexia (I have all three of these) as well as OCD, dyspraxia and tourette’s syndrome.
• Neurotypical: A term used to describe someone whose brain functions, behaviors, and processing are considered standard or typical.

Neurodivergence, is not about our deficiancies but about what we can do. Our brains are wired differently and therefore we sense things differently. Acually the range of diffference within autism means we autistics have a greater range of being different from each other than is found amongst neurotypical people.

Because of the neurodiversity movement things are beginning to chage for the better for neurodiverse people including autistics*:

2013: Auticon, an information and communication technology consulting firm started and exclusively employs autistic people.

2015: Microsoft created an Autism Hiring Program to attract talent in what they consider to be untapped potential in the marketplace.

2017: Police in The Hague in the Netherlands started hiring autistic people to analyze security camera footage to identify suspects and evidence**.

Conclusion

Whatever conclusions we make will be selective—this is my take on it.

In many ways the DSM-5 regulations are a good thing. A medical diagnosis opens the way for help that an autistic preson may need such as accomodations in the workplace. I thing that holding the medical and neurodiverse models together is a great way to go forward, so that both our strengths and struggles are seen.

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*Information from the embrace-autism.com website.
**Patience, a crime drama featuring an autistic investigator, started this month on Channel 4, Wednesdays at 9PM and on demand.