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Simon Baron Cohen

Kvothe

I am wondering why Simon Baron Cohen is associated with NAS after his opinions have been widely condemned by autistic people on a video.

The video in question is - the worlds leading autism expert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJg2_EVheY4&t=1668s

in this video he basically compares autistic people to Elon Musk who i am not aware was formally diagnosed as Autistic, and basically says Autism is a blessing.

Here are some of the comments from that video:

*OMG I spent most of this podcast rolling my eyes. I have ADHD and autism and it's something I would cure in a heartbeat. It makes my life hard and exhausting. I'm constantly overwhelmed. I have no friends. Wanting to prevent autism is good, not eugenics!

* He said autism doesn't cause human suffering and we shouldn't try and prevent it. He's an expert in the field yet lives in a fantasy world where autism always means interesting quirks. As a parent of a severely autistic child who is none verbal, I see daily how much suffering it can cause. Something as simple as walking past a shop with their door left open will change a happy child into a child having a two hour meltdown while scraping the skin off his own face and trying to smash his own head on the concrete. I see this daily and it's terrifying and heart-breaking.

* I’m so sick of people acting like being neurodivergent t is a blessing. As someone who has this myself, yes I have some abilities others don’t. But it is still debilitating. It’s like saying a blind person is lucky because their sense of smell becomes better. We need to find a cure for those who want it

* My son has autism, if there is anything we could have done to prevent it, we would have risked life and limb to do so. There is an incredible amount of suffering related with it.

*This interview is a disservice to all those negatively impacted by autism.

*I’m glad to see I wasn’t the only one shocked and rolling my eyes as the over-corrective “acceptance” mentality of this expert. It’s one thing to be compassionate and highlight the strengths of autism, it’s another thing to not want to prevent it or package it as simply an almost cosmetic difference. Ridiculous.

These are just some of the comments on that video and there are 6840 comments.


Do the National Autistic Society stand by him? He seems to not understand the plight of autistic people at all and i am wondering why thy NAS has him as a Patron, do they agree with his stance on autism or disavow it?

I prob wont be able to reply to most messages on this post as i find this site and the NAS too overwhelming, but will try if i can.

Parents

  • Cohen has worked with autistic individuals, hence his opinions are not only based on research-data but on first person experience. Here are some claims I think he would agree with:

    • A disability: autism is a disability which in itself acknowledges a struggle, and is made worse by societal discrimination,
    • Co-morbidities do not define autism: depression and other problems do not define autism,
    • Autism involves: unusual needs (e.g. earplugs), behaviours (e.g. repetition) and struggle (e.g. to cope with change, social cues, communication),
    • Autistic people are humans: he advocated human rights for autistic people at the United Nations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl8446OulLA,
    • A talent: areas in which they may be unusually good at.

    About his advocacy, I agree with you that Cohen:

    • Minimises issues / struggles, 
    • Overemphasises the positives,
    • Compares autists too frequently with geniuses.

    In my opinion, he also shows high compassion. I'd highlight that this isn't refuting his research. But we do disagree with part of his advocacy.

    Now I reply to particular statements in the post:

    Kvothe said:
    compares autistic people to Elon Musk

    He says the exact opposite: that he would not consider Musk autistic if he hasn't a clear disability as a result. But he does compare autistic people with geniuses too often, which minimises the struggles.

    Kvothe said:

    Wanting to prevent autism is good, not eugenics!

    In some cases it may be prevented, but it would be very unfair to impose this as a general rule.

    Kvothe said:
    sick of people acting like being neurodivergent t is a blessing.
    Kvothe said:
    It’s one thing to be compassionate and highlight the strengths of autism, it’s another thing to not want to prevent it or package it as simply an almost cosmetic difference.

    I am sorry that you and your son suffer so much. I have seen how tiring and painful it is for parents as well.

    Autism is not a blessing per se. But society makes it harder. Should a kid be bullied because of wearing earplugs? I think at least we can start fixing those issues.

Reply

  • Cohen has worked with autistic individuals, hence his opinions are not only based on research-data but on first person experience. Here are some claims I think he would agree with:

    • A disability: autism is a disability which in itself acknowledges a struggle, and is made worse by societal discrimination,
    • Co-morbidities do not define autism: depression and other problems do not define autism,
    • Autism involves: unusual needs (e.g. earplugs), behaviours (e.g. repetition) and struggle (e.g. to cope with change, social cues, communication),
    • Autistic people are humans: he advocated human rights for autistic people at the United Nations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl8446OulLA,
    • A talent: areas in which they may be unusually good at.

    About his advocacy, I agree with you that Cohen:

    • Minimises issues / struggles, 
    • Overemphasises the positives,
    • Compares autists too frequently with geniuses.

    In my opinion, he also shows high compassion. I'd highlight that this isn't refuting his research. But we do disagree with part of his advocacy.

    Now I reply to particular statements in the post:

    Kvothe said:
    compares autistic people to Elon Musk

    He says the exact opposite: that he would not consider Musk autistic if he hasn't a clear disability as a result. But he does compare autistic people with geniuses too often, which minimises the struggles.

    Kvothe said:

    Wanting to prevent autism is good, not eugenics!

    In some cases it may be prevented, but it would be very unfair to impose this as a general rule.

    Kvothe said:
    sick of people acting like being neurodivergent t is a blessing.
    Kvothe said:
    It’s one thing to be compassionate and highlight the strengths of autism, it’s another thing to not want to prevent it or package it as simply an almost cosmetic difference.

    I am sorry that you and your son suffer so much. I have seen how tiring and painful it is for parents as well.

    Autism is not a blessing per se. But society makes it harder. Should a kid be bullied because of wearing earplugs? I think at least we can start fixing those issues.

Children
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