Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all, I'm a Music Therapist working for the NHS and am Chief Editor of a book called "A Spectrum of Approaches: Music Therapy and Autism Across the Lifespan." I'm writing a chapter on the idea of seeing autism in cultural terms, not just diagnostic and would love contributions from people on the spectrum and their families and carers. Is there such as thing as "autistic culture" as separate from "neurotypical"? How is this manifest in terms of self-identity, the arts, and fitting in with others. If anyone would like to make some comments here, or get in touch with me via [email address removed by moderator] If possible, I'd love to include some comments in my chapter.
Many thanks,
Henry
Please note email address removed by moderator as no personal contact details are allowed on the forum. Many thanks, Heather - Mod
A prevalent culture that I have observed, on this forum and elsewhere, is of a rather anarchic and fractious relationships. We are not good at agreeing with each other or of sympathising or empathising with each other. No prizes for guessing why that might be! There are cliques where group-think prevails and people support each other in their idealistic but often Quixotic goals.
The other feature of the culture is the misery that a lot of autistic people live in. Generally speaking, autistic people have difficult and isolated lives that are identified by a lack of community and by desperate reliance on services that are often unable to make a real change to people's lives.