Peter GassnerMar 22
“Researchers measured autistic people against neurotypical expectations and called every difference a deficit. They tested empathy by measuring in-group preference and missed commitment to universal fairness. They measured creativity by counting the number of ideas and missed originality. They saw moral consistency and called it rigidity. They saw deep engagement and called it rigidity. They saw sensory richness and called it disorder.”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/positively-different/202601/what-the-world-got-wrong-about-autistic-people
What the World Got Wrong About Autistic People

For decades, autism research compared autistic people to animals, denied them moral sensitivity, and assumed autistic traits made them miserable. All wrong.

Psychology Today
Show threadJ. R. DePriest    :EA DATA. SF:

@peter

Thank you so much for sharing this article as it beautifully articulates what I've known for years after active, deep introspection.

I believed them. I believed the lies and misinterpretations.

Sometimes I thought I couldn't be autistic. I thought I was just broken and stupid.

Other times I thought, "maybe I am autistic and I'm just wrong about how my own mind works".

It turns out they were wrong and were too busy pathologizing our behavior to trust the data. Standard practice for neurotypicals if we are being honest. And standard practice for autists to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume good faith. Must mean we are naïve and foolish not that they are prone to self-deception and prejudice.

Mar 29 at 3:02pmWeb
Show threadPeter Gassner6d ago

@jrdepriest Good to hear! I feel like it's a message that needs to get out there, so I shared it among my offline circles as well.

But about being naïve and foolish: no! That’s just the result of years of being talked down to, isn’t it?

Show threadMartin Vermeer FCD6d ago
@peter @jrdepriest It's a great article, and a great author. I ordered her book, recommended by Steve Silberman. Looking forward to it.
Show threadPeter Gassner5d ago
@martinvermeer @jrdepriest It didn't occur to me to dig deeper, but that’s a great idea! The Canary Code, right? It looks interesting, I should read it too :)
Show threadJ. R. DePriest    :EA DATA. SF:5d ago

@peter @martinvermeer

Yep.

I'm about to buy a used copy from Goodwill that my wife found online.