Autism and the experts

When you want to learn more about something, naturally you go to the experts in that particular field. You talk to them, read what they say, read their studies - and in the process learn a lot. You may then think that you know a lot more about the subject.

Well, when you are interested in autism, and you follow this path, you may learn what the experts think about autism. You may learn a lot about what they think is wrong with autistic people. You may learn what they observe and hear what their conclusions are. But you will learn very little about the minds of autistic people. You will gain almost no insight in how we think and feel. You will not get an idea of the diversity within the autism spectrum and the uniqueness of every autistic person. You will be encouraged to see it as a disability instead of a difference.

I have to put a disclaimer here - I do think that most of the experts are really interested in autistic people, and wants us to have a good quality of life. I am not an expert-hater. But I am part of a large group of autistic people that feel we are not being heard or consulted, and it is frustrating.

I hope to share some of myself and my thoughts in this blog. It will be a challenge - I have so many thoughts, it is hard to condense some of them into words, and words that others may find interesting. But it is worth a try!