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Is Autism too inclusive?!

Mads

I caught the tail end of a discussion on the radio last night. It was (I think) regarding Professor Dame Uta Frith.

“The spectrum has gone on being more and more accommodating, and I think now it has come to its collapse,” said Professor Dame Uta Frith (UCL Cognitive Neuroscience) on the widening autism spectrum and the growing challenges in diagnosis.

I haven't got a definitive reference but there are online newspapers that have the story (I just don't want to sign up to them to read the full article).

All thoughts welcome. 

Joey. 

Parents

  • It's very frustrating as she's providing fuel for all the culture warriors looking for reasons to cast doubt on the authenticity of late-diagnosed autistic adults. They will of course all ignore the opinions of any autism researcher currently working who disagrees with Frith (ie the overwhelming majority of them).

    The whole resilience thing is really frustrating - I'm of an age where we were taught that by systematic exposure to discomfort and challenging situations we would become more resilient to them. I didn't complain that my school uniform felt like razorblades and that focusing on not reacting to it meant that I couldn't concentrate on schoolwork,  or that the noise of the other kids felt like explosions going off, or that the smell of the canteen made me feel violently sick. I eventually just truanted and felt guilty that I couldn't cope. I tried this kind of approach again and again, developing loads of maladaptive coping strategies to get through things.

    During my diagnostic assessment the psychologists concluded that the reason I wasn't spotted earlier was because I was working so hard at trying to cope with the intense discomfort and difficulty I felt in everyday life. I did everything that the doubters wanted and it didn't work.

    It's so wearing hearing these kinds of arguments now being made.

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  • It's very frustrating as she's providing fuel for all the culture warriors looking for reasons to cast doubt on the authenticity of late-diagnosed autistic adults. They will of course all ignore the opinions of any autism researcher currently working who disagrees with Frith (ie the overwhelming majority of them).

    The whole resilience thing is really frustrating - I'm of an age where we were taught that by systematic exposure to discomfort and challenging situations we would become more resilient to them. I didn't complain that my school uniform felt like razorblades and that focusing on not reacting to it meant that I couldn't concentrate on schoolwork,  or that the noise of the other kids felt like explosions going off, or that the smell of the canteen made me feel violently sick. I eventually just truanted and felt guilty that I couldn't cope. I tried this kind of approach again and again, developing loads of maladaptive coping strategies to get through things.

    During my diagnostic assessment the psychologists concluded that the reason I wasn't spotted earlier was because I was working so hard at trying to cope with the intense discomfort and difficulty I felt in everyday life. I did everything that the doubters wanted and it didn't work.

    It's so wearing hearing these kinds of arguments now being made.

Children
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