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"Everyone is on the Autism Scale!" - is this right?

Mweekie

Hi.

I don't often post on here, but I have been getting very frustrated by some people who I know...

The other day, I was talking to someone in particular and about my (currently undiagnosed) autism and she turns round and I quote... "Well...everyone is on the autistic scale on one end or the other. No one is a 'normal' person. Everyone has some autistic trait...". She continued on this track for well over an hour and I felt myself getting more and more upset by her.

So my question is - is everyone in the world on the scale in one sense or another.

I know what I feel about it and I know that yes some people are on the scale (whether diagnosed or not) but I don't feel every single person is on it.

Thank you for letting me a) rant and b) ask this question.

Mweekie xx

Parents

  • If there is such a thing as autism, then definitionally, not everyone has autism. We wouldn't need the word 'tall' if everyone was tall. The word 'scale' complicates things somewhat, as if autism is diagnosed as having a certain amount of traits, then there needs to be a cut off somewhere in a way that leaves grey areas. But even if we can't quantify 'autism', or, indeed, 'tallness' with absolute precision, the categories are meaningful.

    Perhaps you should tell your friend that everyone is tall because everyone possesses a certain amount of height.

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  • If there is such a thing as autism, then definitionally, not everyone has autism. We wouldn't need the word 'tall' if everyone was tall. The word 'scale' complicates things somewhat, as if autism is diagnosed as having a certain amount of traits, then there needs to be a cut off somewhere in a way that leaves grey areas. But even if we can't quantify 'autism', or, indeed, 'tallness' with absolute precision, the categories are meaningful.

    Perhaps you should tell your friend that everyone is tall because everyone possesses a certain amount of height.

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