Autistic autism specialists?

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I'm curious if there are any autism specialists -- either researchers or practitioners -- who are uncloseted autists?

(I'd tend to figure that there must be a few... however, Google hasn't turned up anything, so I thought I'd ask here.)

I'm not quite a specialist yet, but I'm training to be one. Almost have my bachelor's in psychology (one semester left), and after that I'll be applying to graduate school. My goal is to be able to do neurocognitive testing and assessments for autism, especially for adults, who have a very slim market of doctors to choose from.

I don't know of any uncloseted ones, but I'm excited that StarTrekker is working toward becoming one. I wholeheartedly think we need more specialists and therapists amongst our rankings.

I suspect my current therapist is either a closeted Autist or an undiagnosed one. Not coincidentally, he's been the best therapist I've ever had. He just seems to have such an innate knowledge of the troubles I describe that I swear he has to be one of us. I've suspected that ever since our first session, based upon his ease of understanding and the way he conducts himself.

As such, I would totally recommend an Autistic Autism Specialist... if we could just find him/her in the wild.

I wonder if local Autism Centers might know of any. I'm sure there has to be some but it's just the issue of whether they are out enough to be remembered and consequently, recommended.

More Autistic, autistic experts is a good thing. They are more likely not to start with incorrect assumptions and value judgements about what are successful outcomes

I've done therapy in a college setting. I did okay--but it was difficult to "come out of myself" sometimes. I wanted to read a certain biography, for example, rather than prepare for the therapy session.

That's what the autistic person must do in order to become a successful therapist: "come out of his/her self." It's more difficult than you think!

This "self-absorption" has prevented me from going the "extra step"--into Grad School.

I want to be a Transitions Counselor for autistic adults who desire independence over dependence.

I've learned a lot & treated my own symptoms with great success. Many people here don't believe me, though. Doesn't change what I've learned & done nor the fact that I'm living a second life for it.

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