Autism and the Ignorance of 'Expertise'

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I really enjoyed and related to this video, so I thought I would share it with you all.



Cheers,

CFL

Well said. That woman, Suzanne O'Sullivan is annoying.

I had not heard of Suzanne O'Sullivan before watching this video. Judging by your response I'm guessing that she makes stupid comments often, am I correct?

A diagnosis is just a tool for understanding the hurdles we face. It isn't all-encompassing. It doesn't inhibit us from becoming more. I think that frightens a lot of practitioners and parents. We are a hell of a lot of work when we are young. So many struggles, but we grow up and learn and thrive in our own ways. Most of us are so much bigger than a diagnosis, but we are often put in a box because it makes other people comfortable. And, yeah, we put ourselves in the box because it is a great boundary to tell people to back off, when we need to.

Per Carl Jung, the purpose of living is to achieve individuation, not social conformity. So, those of us who don't fit into the NT mold are, in fact, more likely to achieve individuation. No point in trying to achieve socially normative behavior. That ain't gonna happen. Nature vs nurture? A combination of both, I think. But, is that a curse or a gift? And who gets to decide? Me or the person diagnosing me?

We each have a catalyst or challenge (the nature part - some kind of disability or struggle). Our "otherness" becomes everyone's focus. We hide it because people behave like we just passed gas in public the moment we step outside of those social norms. And, once it is out in the open, that is all anyone sees. They don't see the way we are growing around the barriers, experiencing life in odd and fantastic ways, laughing at our own mistakes, when we can, and crying our eyes out for all of our failures when the struggle becomes too much.

The stigma of autism and neurodiversity hasn't gone away, but the more people embrace it publicly, the more will seek out help and wear the diagnosis with courage. There aren't more people with autism than there used to be. We're just taking off those masks worn in fear of discovery for how long? Way too long. So much time wasted. So many generations mistreated, misdiagnosed and misunderstood.

And we have a right to love ourselves even in our struggles. Our struggles are what make us individuals. Our struggles are our stories, our life. How sick is it to think that we have to suffer to justify getting help. That is the old way of thinking. We need to change it.

Suzanne O'Sullivan added to the list of reasons why I refuse any sort of psycho help.

I have heard about her book (where she argue that autism, ADHD and depression are being overdiagnosed) before this. People that think "autism has become a fad" tend to bring up her book as evidence. That's what makes her annoyng in my opinion.