Published on 12, July, 2020
my dad had a learning disability which was diagnosed. He passed away at the age of 57. His two brothers have epilepsy, one of them even told me he thinks he has autism but never sought the diagnosis because he feels like he "wants to get jobs on his own merits". He doesn't want support.
Anyway, my dads mum also had a diagnosed learning disability.
I have a strong feeling they had autism event though it wasn't diagnosed.
My grandmother died at the age of 97, I don't believe women were diagnosed back when she was in her 20s or 30s.
I don't believe women were diagnosed back when she was in her 20s or 30s.
Diagnosis at all for 'high functioning' people (for want of a better term) as Aspergers was from the 1980s.
However, female diagnosis I believe has mainly taken off during this century.
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/what-is-autism/the-history-of-autism/asperger-syndrome
I think a better term for this would be ‘internalised autistic experience’ or ‘highly masked autistic experience’ or just autistic. However I do understand that the language used in mainstream society is limited.
None of your terms explain the difference in presentation/abilities between the functioning levels that led to a lack of diagnosis for people such as myself (if I were male!) until the 1980s.
Yes I understand what you mean but this could have been due to a lack of understanding about different autistic experiences and presentations.
In 2023, even though there is a lack of autistic led education about autistic experiences, there is better understanding of the fact there is no one way to be autistic primarily thanks to sharing lived experiences. Albeit some stereotypes about our autistic community are still unfortunately widely believed.
What about using the descriptor ‘low support needs’ instead if this was accurate for you?
Ausomely Autistic said:I think a better term for this would be ‘internalised autistic experience’ or ‘highly masked autistic experience’ or just autistic.