Who Should Study Autistic People?

In case there is any doubt, my answer is: autistic people!

I just watched this video:

While I can view this issue from both sides – as a former researcher and an autistic person – I completely understand why “tensions” exist. Is there any doubt that there should be, given our shared history?

I’m personally tired of neurotypicals telling me about autism. I’m sure they mean well, but I feel like shouting: I AM autistic! I don’t, of course – not wishing to cause a stir. Why so truculent? Well, setting aside what we have to manage on an hourly basis, please consider our history, outlined below in highly condensed form and based upon my own research, conversations and experiences:

• Poor understanding

• Social stigma

• Poor employment stats

• Unrealistic, harmful cultural portrayals

• Questionable research and practices

• In the past, locked up in asylums, misdiagnosed with “schizophrenia”

• Sent to gas chambers by the Nazis (Asperger, who should have been an ally, was implicated in this)

• Fear of having an autistic child

• Some parents’ refusal to have child take a MMR jab – despite risk of deadly disease –  due to fear of child becoming autistic, despite all evidence that jab is safe with no connection to autism

I think it is reasonable that other autistic people feel the same way – paranoid and defensive. Sometimes I wonder: what group has suffered more than autistic people – and are still suffering? Not to diminish the plight of other groups, which I am also aware of and sympathetic to; I’m just being honest with my thoughts, as an autistic person.

This is why I hope to one day complete a PhD related to autism research. I hope other autistic people feel the same. We have a LONG way to go before we are fully accepted. In the meantime, let’s not accept any research that makes our lives more difficult than they already are.