Autism is a 'trend'...?!

It is probably partly due to the large increase in the numbers of people being diagnosed. This is seen by some as an 'epidemic of autism', where it is really due to the recognition by clinicians that autistic people without intellectual disability can be equally validly autistic and can have debilitating problems. This is fed into by the view widespread in the general population that anyone who is reasonably functional in society cannot be autistic. When these people come across autistic people who are in relationships, hold down jobs and pay their mortgage, they are very doubtful of their autistic status.

Martin said:

This is fed into by the view widespread in the general population that anyone who is reasonably functional in society cannot be autistic. When these people come across autistic people who are in relationships, hold down jobs and pay their mortgage, they are very doubtful of their autistic status.

I think it's a tricky one. It's easier to entertain the possibility such a person is behaviourally autistic, than to see such a person as being  disabled. A random question that crossed my mind. Can disability be defined comparatively? How well does an autistic person who's employed and in a relationship  compare to a demographically matched non autistic person?  I was lucky enough to be with someone for 22 years and married nearly 19 years. It ended when she died. For the last 3 years of her life she had vascular dementia. On the other hand I never had paid employment.

Whilst I can see that such a person is behaviourally autistic, and may or may not be disabled, I struggle to identify with a 'high achieving'  person with an autism diagnosis.
There are more than a few here that I believe fit into that 'high achieving' category. There are conversations here that I  lack the life experience to join in with.

Autism affects individuals differently. While I was academically able and got a job in science that suited my strengths, some of them certainly autistic, I had my first serious romantic relationship when I was 30, unusually old. Before that time I had no success in converting acquaintanceships into romance. I think that I was definitely socially disabled by my autism, but not overtly career-wise. Having said this, I was limited in my career, I think that I had the intellect to have become a university professor, but the only path to that is through a combination of research and teaching. I could do and did do well at research, I was a good experimental scientist in the lab, but I knew that I could not cope as a lecturer. The performance aspect of teaching would have been far too stressful for me and the pastoral care of students would have been entirely beyond my capabilities. Autism has had a deleterious effect on me, I have had difficulties with aspects of life and have been unable to do things that, without autism I would have been capable of. I suspect that this is disablement, probably disability.

I have, throughout my life, deliberately put myself into situations where I felt horribly uncomfortable and borderline panicked. I did this in pursuit of goals that I was set on. I always found formal examinations off-scale stressful, especially being in large halls crowded with other nervous people, but I did lots of them - they didn't get easier with repetition. Other people did not seem to find such things as difficult as I did. For most of my life I thought that other people were just stronger than me. I now know that I am autistic and I have coped with difficulties that most other people just do not suffer from, they do not exist at all for them. I am the strong person.

I don't dispute what you're saying.   Which is markedly different from  those who see autism as a superpower rather than a disability . I can identify with what you're saying  much more than with anyone who regards autism as the next stage  in human evolution.   I'm not as brave or courageous as you.  I have an immense fear of failure  and struggle with a heavy dose of imposter syndrome. As someone once said to me.

I don't know about others here but I'm more than a little avoidant.  I find it very difficult to step outside of my comfort/safety zone.

What I try to draw attention to, in relation to autism, is that the simple dichotomy between being able or unable to do certain things is only part of the problem. Autistic people who can do certain things, like holding down a job, often do so at a cost in anxiety, long-term stress, exhaustion and poor mental health that allistics would never experience.

For example, I could and did present papers at conferences. In such an environment, you are presenting your work to a sometimes critical and usually large audience of fellow experts. As a result I would experience huge and almost debilitating anxiety in the run up to the event. I usually could make a reasonable job of the talk, but have to employ such tricks as using lots of visual aids, to deflect attention from myself, move around while speaking - as I tend to get the rabbit in the headlights effect if I stand still at a lectern  - and look at the audience over my glasses to make them an amorphous blur. After any such presentation I would be too psychologically and physically exhausted to be able to do anything useful immediately after, or for several days following. I would become a human jellyfish. I think that this is a bit of a disability for someone trying to pursue an academic career, and one caused by my autism. This 'performance anxiety' and feelings of having to live up to the expectations of others is precisely the reason that I never entertained the idea of going down the lecturer route. I could just about manage one conference presentation every year or two, but the prospect of giving lectures on a regular and frequent basis was not a possibility for me.

I actually said research academic, to perhaps be even more exact.

I see, thanks.

I asked if you were a research scientist.  That was before I read your post properly. Because in your post you had already said you were one.

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I actually said research academic, to perhaps be even more exact.

I see, thanks.

I asked if you were a research scientist.  That was before I read your post properly. Because in your post you had already said you were one.

?Que?