This is just for England not the whole UK. Just saying. In Scotland, there has been a move to have an autism commissioner as if that's going to benefit the lives of most autistic people. Don't know about Wales and Northern Ireland.
I have SchizoAffective Disorder, I also have a Major Mood disorder, and depression. When I was 5, they thought I had autism, but I did an IQ test and had the mental age of 12, and said autism didn't apply to me because I have a high IQ. They didn't know about high-functioning autism back then. So I think I was misdiagnosed. I think I am on the spectrum somewhere on the high end. I learn fast, but sometimes forget what I learned. I am 57 now.
There is a huge amount of overlap between the genes associated with schizophrenia and the genes associated with autism. This is part of what makes it tricky to diagnose yourself, because anyone who has the genes for schizophrenia is also going to have a lot of autism symptoms even if they don't have autism.
I’m 42 but British. I was a weird kid, but over in Blighty autism wasn’t something that was even considered back then - just “how much more do we need to cane him until he’s normal?!”.
It turns out, no amount. Now I’m just a weird adult with an ironclad distrust of all authority.
I was similar - primary school teacher wrote home to my parents asking their permission to slipper me (it was a no).
Diagnosed with adhd last year at 45, scored ridiculously high on self test aspie but no incentive to get an autism diagnosis atm (my wife is worried the far right will get in and they’ll go after the autistics).
Would have been nice to have had a diagnosis as a kid though - my life would have been quite different (maybe more hugs less drugs)
My parents weren’t consulted - public school allowed it up until 2001, I believe.
Anyway, I just got really good at masking, and learning to understand systems such that I might subvert them. Sociality and conformance just didn’t really matter to me, they didn’t have intrinsic value - so I learned to act the part, and figured out the least effort methods to hack people into approving of me, whereby I could gain personal agency. They trained a sociopath.
It’s gonna be interesting to see what the future will be like, when today’s kids who’ve actually had support and nurture rather than an endless cycle of punishment are really running the show - fewer crazy fucks like me out there ruining shit for the rest of humanity, that’s for sure.
I am a bit older and i grew up in New Jersey, and it wasn't much different. My teacher once told me she was going to cut my finger off because i always counted with them . Punk rock saved my life .
The ability to focus to the point of obsession or find joy in boring repetitive tasks associated with autism helped before the rise of AI and automation. Now, interpersonal communication and creativity (not in the sense of art but a lack of rigidity in one's thinking) are far more valuable - the things people with autism famously lack.
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Review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism: interim report (gov.uk). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-revie...
It's amazing how much we continue to learn about these conditions.
It turns out, no amount. Now I’m just a weird adult with an ironclad distrust of all authority.
Diagnosed with adhd last year at 45, scored ridiculously high on self test aspie but no incentive to get an autism diagnosis atm (my wife is worried the far right will get in and they’ll go after the autistics).
Would have been nice to have had a diagnosis as a kid though - my life would have been quite different (maybe more hugs less drugs)
Anyway, I just got really good at masking, and learning to understand systems such that I might subvert them. Sociality and conformance just didn’t really matter to me, they didn’t have intrinsic value - so I learned to act the part, and figured out the least effort methods to hack people into approving of me, whereby I could gain personal agency. They trained a sociopath.
It’s gonna be interesting to see what the future will be like, when today’s kids who’ve actually had support and nurture rather than an endless cycle of punishment are really running the show - fewer crazy fucks like me out there ruining shit for the rest of humanity, that’s for sure.
> Once diagnosed, many children receive Applied Behaviour Analysis (aba)
Shameless plug but to see ABA data better, I built a site with the Observable Framework[1] that analyzes sessions at: https://behavior.today
[1] https://github.com/observablehq/framework
The ability to focus to the point of obsession or find joy in boring repetitive tasks associated with autism helped before the rise of AI and automation. Now, interpersonal communication and creativity (not in the sense of art but a lack of rigidity in one's thinking) are far more valuable - the things people with autism famously lack.