Clearing Up Some Misconceptions about Neurodiversity

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Here's an interesting Scientific American opinion piece: Clearing Up Some Misconceptions about Neurodiversity: "Just because you value neurological differences doesn’t mean you’re denying the reality of disabilities," by Aiyana Bailin on June 6, 2019.

The author also has a blog here.

According to Bailin
Respecting neurodiversity means the professional community (insert - Baron-Cohen and Attwood) needs to apologize for decades of mistakenly insisting that autistic people lack emotions or empathy, and for all the harm, both physical and psychological, that has been done to autistic people (and is still being done) because of those errors made by neurotypical observers. It means asking whether some “weaknesses”

We already know that autism isn't valued by the neurotypical world but what Bailin doesn't acknowledge is that autism isn't valued by autistic people either. She is paid by parents like myself to spend time with their non-verbal children. But if she wasn't paid would she voluntarily spend time with children like the ones she works with? How many aspies would voluntarily spend their own time with non-verbal kids? (my guess is close to zero)

I often hear Aspies on forums saying how much better they are at understanding non-verbal kids but do they really know more than the children's parents? how much of this is the author's own projections?

I think the misunderstandings about autism cross-over into the very people who write about autism. Isn't one person's experience of autism different to another person's experience as no two people with autism express in the same way?

These tendencies would vary from aspie to aspie,I don't think there are any absolutes as to what an aspie would or would not do.

A disability is a disability not sure what there on about broken is just a word probably not the best anyway because it implies something was fine before. Autism is present at birth



No one says we dont have rights



Some do but many dont



Using the old ND trick of Mixing different functioning personality traits with serious disabilities, two seperate things. 1 in 3 of us autistics has epilepsy that can cause brain damage or death.



Most of the time its very simple disabilities prevent people leading an independent full life and makes people miserable. Sometimes it kills.

I thought the article was the first good argument I've read on the ND vs. disability dilemma. I realize no argument is going to make everyone happy since everyone's experience with ASD is different.

I don't think it's fair to include the comorbidities (damn, I hate that word). No one is arguing that these aren't serious conditions.


I don't understand why we would single out Baron-Cohen and Attwood for this criticism. I thought they were both proponents of the ND movement. Not that I know who is to blame other than Kanner.

I have wondered about that myself. I know the ND movement does want to see more autistics employed helping other autistics. I may look into the volunteering. Sounds like time better spent than at an autism speaks "walk" .

I inserted their names because of their prominence and because they are effectively part of the "professional" community whom Bailin wants an apology from. Bailin's premise is that autism should not be approached using the biomedical model but autistic people be considered part of ND universe as a different way living. Although Attwood and Baron-Cohen's literature isn't really that helpful in my experience I don't think blaming the professional community is very helpful especially considering their training is fairly cookie-cutter anyway. I keep a close eye on the nuerodevelopmental research community in Australia and their focus seems to be i) ABA therapy ii) ADHD interventions using i-pad apps and iii) gene and brain patterns associated with autism often relying on animal models (mice).

I'm not sure what the future holds but currently we parents are on our own. Our kids only have us.

There is neither a medical cure to treat our kids or a fantasy ND community to welcome our kids so it's perhaps something for the far distant future when we are long gone.



The only thing stopping high functioning autistics from wanting to work with lower functioning autistic people is themselves. Need to stop blaming/attributing problems to NT parent groups. Back in the real world there is a hierarchical totem pole that autistic people themselves put themselves and (lets not kid ourselves) high functioning autistic people want to better integrate into the NT community and there is no interest in creating this mythical ND community. COmes across like the visual metaphor of the tail wagging the dog.

As you alluded to there is and will never be any real world non virtual “Autism Community” that can eliminate or make a big substantial positive day to day difference to those with autism. Our disabilities transcends simply a few tweaks in society.

At the end of the day when all the happy clapping, flag waving ND supporters have inevitably packed up and gone home or off air, we are on our own as always to cope with a world our disability prevents us from functioning in to varying degrees.

The only thing that can is progress in science, new drugs and therapies that sadly many in the elite ND community are resisting for their own self-serving reasons.



How can you ignore comorbidities or 1 in 3 people? its like ignoring heart attacks when discussing cholesterol or lung cancer when discussing smoking & health, in fact only 1 in 5 or so smokers get lung cancer so autism health risk is much higher.

I mentioned comorbidities because of the usual whitewash statement that seemed to link innocent harmless personality differences with serious disability:



The usual ND trick of mixing innocent personality and character differences from fully functional people with hardcore disabilities. Like somehow not being very social or having an odd ball interest belongs on the same page as not being able to tie your own shoelaces, do handwriting or not being able to talk at all, things which offer no benefit to the individual or humanity at large at all.

Oh I can reassure you that the ND community is completely ignored by those that control funding. I have attended autism conferences in Australia and there is very little or no representation by either autistic people and/or families/parents.

On the few occasions I dare to ask questions I either get ignored (because I am not a researcher) or asked if my daughter would sign up to be prodded or poked for research (something she would never voluntarily want to do).

That for whatever reason the ND movement has become so loathed by so many autistics is the most disappointing, sad, and frustrating thing that has happened autism related since I became aware over six years ago.

I mentioned to Mona that the idea needs to be ditched in favor of networks - start with high profile autistics like Alex Plank and others who are successful and self-identify as autistic who form an international network. This forms the scaffold for more layered communities or networks.

Are you sure that the people who say this are "Aspies" (i.e. people who were diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome -- and who, if properly diagnosed as such under the DSM IV criteria, had no significant speech delay as kids)?

Or are they "high-functioning" autistic people who had long speech delays as kids and remember what it was like to be nonverbal?

People in the latter category certainly could have worthwhile insights that could be very helpful to parents of nonverbal kids.

The problem is not insurmountable, by becoming neutral on the idea of cure / treatment accepting its a personal choice ( regardless of today's medical reality). If they stop trying to impose their will on others.

Staying out of science choosing to focus on day to day improvements in work, society and home life like other disability groups.

Avoiding crass unsympathetic language by implying we all have the same functionality, using words like gift etc...

Accepting autism is just another disability/ medical condition rather than trying to create a fake identity out of it, that only serve an extreme hf minority.

Who knows maybe ND will start appealing to more people.

Not sure it's really "so many autistics." There does seem to be a fairly well-organized online movement of anti-ND-paradigm folks. I suspect (though I'm not yet sure) that it's driven primarily by folks with ties to the alt-right.

Insofar as the anti-ND-paradigm position appeals to other autistic people, I think that's largely because the ND movement is currently unable to fulfill its promise due to lack of sufficient organization.


Agreed on the need for networks, but that's not a reason to "ditch" the idea of neurodiversity. It is, on the contrary, a way to fulfill the as-yet-unfulfilled promise of the neurodiversity paradigm.


We can't rely on high-profile people to do all or most of the work. The networking is going to have to happen bottom-up, starting with a network of peer-led support groups.

A big problem with the ND movement has been that it has been mostly talk, with not much organization-building. That's partly because, of course, we tend to be disabled in ways that make it hard to build an organization. But it's work that more of us need to do, as best we can (preferably with a little help from sympathetic NT's), because it's the only way that disadvantaged minority groups ever get to have their rights respected.

Most autistic people couldnt care less about alt-right or left wing politics, they just want to be able to live normal lives like everybody else.

Just like every other disability out there. Those confined to wheelchairs dont become alt-right or betray their disability or identity if they want to be able to walk again they just want to be free.

The same with autistic people, we want to be free, able to form normal relationships, get a girl/boyfriend , form friendships , get normal jobs and interact with our co workers so we do not live in povety. We want to be free from the co morbids epilepsy, anxiety, gross/ fine motor problems intel disability and memory problems.

We want our disabilities recognised and respected, not whitewashed or mis represented or ommitted and our right to new treatments being pursued not blocked by a minority for their own self interest.

No political sides there.

I would have to agree with that,very well said,the best post you ever made.

I'm curious about this alt-right inspired movement? for me I am coming across as an NT parent (I would consider my philosophy to be the opposite of the alt-right)

It wouldn't surprise me individual right wingers despise the disabled (Hitler's followers enthusiastically sterilised anybody with any type of physical or mental defect and almost all of these were German nurses tasked with this duty). However they are too preoccupied with racial identity to worry about killing off the disabled.