Reality TV star Demi Burnett among growing number of adults living with autism | NTL

[@traumaleaguenow1653]

I had/have autism growing up and was never diagnosed. Instead, I was ridiculed, punished, ignored, and rejected for years by family and peers. It really took its toll and I am still fighting to overcome those years.

[@beezleboss2696]

can you even grow out of autism or is there even a cure for it? i dont think so or am i wrong?

[@ReineDeLaSeine14]

@@beezleboss2696It’s neurodevlopmental, so you can’t grow out of it.

[@Danimal1577]

@@beezleboss2696it's not a disease or virus that needs a "cure." It's just a different way neurodivergent folks' brains work, as opposed to neurotypical normies. And it's extremely frustrating to exist in this nonsensical and illogical world which the normies have built and still maintain. Extremely frustrating

[@King_Karnage]

@@Danimal1577 notice how u have to cope by calling people "normies" lmao 🤡

[@twilit]

@@Danimal1577you dislike being looked down on but are setting up an us vs them battle against “normies” that you ascribe everything wrong about the world to… do ppl with disabilities a favor and stop.

[@jryce]

11:22 that closing remark is incredible. realizing what we do is a product of our socialization makes it easier to forgive others and ourselves. as likely we just needed a little more context

[@twilit]

agreed no one is the way they are in a vacuum

[@chrissystewart6268]

I've been around people with autism especially in my hometown Baltimore Maryland I used to work with people with disabilities. My message to people don't worry about people rejecting you & not being compassionate & being your friend. Listen to me everyone is diagnosed with something don't be mean / a bully treat people with love & respect

[@ReineDeLaSeine14]

Late diagnosed adults always were autistic, they just did’t know about it. I was diagnosed at 20

[@HostileWorkplaceEXPOSED]

Thanks for this. This really confirms what a psychologist told me that I might beyond the artistic spectrum. I figured out about 10-years ago I was a highly sensitive person but it never tied it back to autism

[@fishercourt]

And now you’re actually self-diagnosing yourself? That’s ridiculous, please get help from professionals and not through Dr You Tube.

[@CheriePoLarry]

I don't see how these things mentioned where enough to get a diagnosis but if Demi can be an advocate for people with Autism then more power to her. Usually it takes a lot more to get diagnosed than one evaluation.

[@LizaJane101]

Thank you. I totally relate to “0h here we go…. I have to put on the human suit and act I like I function and do all these things….” Animals help me feel safe and grounded, especially when around other people. And I love repetition like painting or puzzle working or stuffing envelopes or anything repetitive. It’s so calming and makes me feel worthwhile (puzzle working isn’t adding to the world, but it is my favorite thing) lol

[@emiliobello2538]

Sony Pictures Classics should make a documentary about autism in Middle School

[@THERSC216]

This helped me accept me for me even more. This story healed me.

[@advocate1533]

Sorry...I have a feeling Demi has been misdiagnosed. As a special education teacher, who engages with both children and adults on the spectrum, I am highly skeptical. The top professionals in the medical community that specialize in neurodiversity have spoken out about the fact that most medical practitioners have limited education related to these diagnoses and a poor understanding of the overlapping symptoms of ADHD, ASD, OCD, PTSD, and/or social anxiety. None of the symptoms Demi mentions are necessarily indicative of Autism. Masking, impulsivity, anxiety, sensory issues, and social communication challenges are just as common in individuals with ADHD. In fact, given Demi's personality, one might suspect this is just another attention seeking performance. And since society stigmatizes ADHD more than ASD, and most people believe medication is a panacea for ADHD (which it is not), she may find the ASD diagnosis preferable. If Demi is "masking," perhaps she is fooling herself as well. Does anyone else doubt that Demi's Autism diagnosis is accurate?

[@thegingersnaps8075]

Completely agree. I have been around many adhd children including my own. In fact I was just talking to a specialist and he said that this is being overly misdiagnosed now because of social media. People feed symptoms they think match up cause it sounds similar but pediatricians go back to infant and toddler stages of development to pin point autism.

[@twilit]

agreed i’m curious what type of doctor diagnosed her and how

[@advocate1533]

@@thegingersnaps8075 Yes, and the top experts in the field like Thomas Brown and Russell Barkley have suggested that most practitioners receive very little to none specific training as to the signs and symptoms of these disorders. And...if they have been in the field for more than ten years, unless they specialize in these diagnoses, they are not likely to be up to speed on the research and the nuances of these disorders. Until recently, very few people even knew about the executive function challenges of ADHD, the sensory issues, and the overlap with PTSD. They also did not understand that those with ASD who are high functioning may be struggling as well. And there was little conversation about the overlap in these diagnoses. The fact that Demi is clearly a risk taker, is extremely social, and seems quite adept at communicating (except for the issues that often accompany ADHD), suggests she does not have Autism. This is media attention is not productive and clearly those who are reporting her claim have not done their homework either. kzbin.infoBTfCM8c7U5c

[@advocate1533]

​@@thegingersnaps8075 I just wish the media would do more to explain the challenges people with ADHD face...because it can be far more disabling than any other developmental delay and can lead to CPTSD due to societies expectations and the invisible challenges that most people do not comprehend. ADHD is far more than an "attention" disorder. It has more to do with the challenges involved in "self-regulation." Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder vs Autism - How To Tell The Difference kzbin.info/www/bejne/inaypoxsmbCFrZo

[@paulbrownsr]

Hell yeah I doubt that diagnosis is accurate

[@HostileWorkplaceEXPOSED]

55 and after working in Washington State agencies that were toxic I was finally diagnosed as ADHD and my psychologist thinks I am probably autistic but I have been unable to get the diagnosis. How totally different my life would have been had I been diagnosed as a child. How much less I would have suffered as a human being instead of all the bullying bullying that I encountered because I was different. Hopefully Washington State will apply and hold everybody responsible for all those diversity equity and inclusion laws they keep making and ignoring

[@Danimal1577]

I'm 99% sure I'm on the spectrum, and my social-emotional life has been rough to say the least /:

[@TheDuckClock]

I'll say this as someone who was diagnosed as a young kid: More power to you! When I was a kid I was constantly told that "autism is terrible and no one wants it". But the amount of self diagnosed people I've see over the years absolutely destroys that argument. As far as I'm concerned: Self Diagnosis is 100% valid.

[@hawksgoated3613]

@@TheDuckClocki was diagnosed after psychological testing at age 20 and ever since that day i now under stand why every day life seems impossible and terrifying i hate it and its only worse when you experience trauma as a child with it also

[@TheDuckClock]

@@hawksgoated3613 Diagnosed age 12, and throughout my teen and early adult years I was told and coerced into thinking my very existence was shameful no thanks to the fact that the vast majority of the autism narrative was driven by parents who hated their autistic children. Wasn't till I started standing up for myself in my 30s that I realized that living in self loathing was no way to live. And instead of letting those autistic hating parents talk over everyone. I stood up to them. And it did wonders to my mental health.

[@Melissa0774]

I want to know when the researchers are FINALLY going to do a national or international study to find and count all the people with autism over the age of 40 so they can finally know the true rate and settle the debate about whether or not it's on the rise after all.

[@purplehood8418]

This!!!!!

[@Melissa0774]

@@purplehood8418 It's going to take a much more famous and powerful celebrity than this woman. It's going to have to be someone who will make a documentary or a news special about their life and their diagnosis process, perhaps with something like ABC news. I don't think there are any celebrities with autism right now who are both famous enough, and powerful enough to get the national discussion going. It would have to be someone like Oprah. But unfortunately, there isn't anyone who has that kind of impact right now. A lot of people think that maybe Bill Gates or Elon Musk might be on the spectrum. But I don't think they would ever admit it publicly, if they were.

[@silviashefa4097]

We are controlled by laws of nature. There is a general force of nature, and two opposite forces-bestowal and reception-extend from it. We exist between these forces, and both of these qualities affect us. Then, the question arises: How do we develop under the influence of these forces? Where do we act? Where are we free? How do we accumulate and correlate these two forces within ourselves? How can we build ourselves out of them? These are the questions that the wisdom of Kabbalah engages in: how we receive these two forces in an optimal balance, and with their help, shape ourselves so as to resemble the very laws of nature, to arise and reach equivalence of form with the force of bestowal in nature. These very laws gave us the opportunity to control the pace of our progress in accepting them upon ourselves. That is the point of our freewill. How could we act if we do not have freewill? Who would we be? Would we just be like robots, always under control? Until now, we have always been under control. What does it mean? Nature as if injects a drop of egoism-the desire to enjoy at others’ expense-into us, and then it does so a little more, and a little more again, and we then get the impetus to move toward all kinds of egoistic goals. The more our egoism inflates, the more we become willing to move to increasingly gain at the expense of others. Nature constantly squeezes the syringe into us until it eventually infuses us with the full amount of egoism. Our era is characterized by the syringe of egoism having become completely injected into us, with no more egoism left to inject. That is why we have nowhere left to run. Where do we head from here? What do we do? Moreover, egoism has become global and integral. In the beginning, we felt good because we reached egoistic global connections in the world and thought that everything would be fine. However, when such connections started depending on everyone, we turned out to be nature’s opposite. At this juncture, we find ourselves with a major dilemma, and we need to work out what we do about it. Where our fully-inflated egoism coupled with our tightening global connections brings us to increasing problems around the world, today we require a new form of connection-enriching education that would have the ability to guide us on how to change our egoistic connections to altruistic ones. That is the key to a shift to a harmonious and peaceful world.

[@twilit]

i just don’t think what this girl is talking about is autism

[@prettyn1993]

I think she struggles with social anxiety. Still a real demon to deal with, but I don't think she is on the spectrum.

[@hawksgoated3613]

@@evalilith6703yall realize to have autism doesn't mean you have to be r*tarded its severeness varies

[@nicolemarie1909]

Love her

[@manuelbello5806]

Wow

[@laurendowns4894]

The Doctor commenting looks like something is off about her, too. Avoiding everything adds to more issues dealing with external stressors when they can't be fully avoided. What happened to teaching people coping strategies by mild exposure/ integration not avoidance of fears? This looks like the methodology being taught has the potential to be more damaging to these individuals in their futures than practical. Yes, understanding and emotional awareness is important but this looks like something isn't quite right with what they are advocating.

[@twilit]

agreed- seems like a focus on how to go about strengthening and integrating people to interact with environments rather than changing everything to suit sensitivities makes more sense- i like the idea of quiet calming places and being aware of how crowds and overstimulation can affect people, especially kids because we are overstimulating kids like never before and in a way people needing less of that are the normal ones… but still let’s have an understanding on when and where these environments are useful and strengthen people to be able to partake rather than say oh i’m autistic i have to go to my safe space. i don’t think demi is autistic honestly comes across more like someone that latched on to the diagnosis because she was embarrassed about some social behaviors which everyone is at times. i mean who wouldn’t be awkward and tense talking to a man on a staged dating show for national television but now that means it’s a sign of autism? this is really misguided.

[@fishercourt]

@@twilit 😭🤕⬅️ This is what she looks like to me. When I just saw the title for this video, my mind went right to, "let’s get receipts 🧾 from her various educational, vocational, and behavioral testing results…”. Until I see that or hear from the doctors that diagnosed her, then I will make my own opinion on that. What most people do not realize, is the fact that you can label yourself whatever you please;however, if you’re public with your so called “diagnosis”, then you must prove to others that you’re not self-diagnosing. That has become more prevalent lately,perhaps it’s due to the lack of awareness & accountability for your past mistakes. Own up to it and stop trying so hard to make others feel bad for you as a reality contestant. I know from my perspective only, that it took me about four years until I was diagnosed with adhd & anxiety. I saw many second, third, & many more for a span of three years, until the testing was complete. Until I see the receipts, I believe she’s trying to get attention in the wrong way, by unintentionally disrespecting others that really have difficult situations due to their being on the autistic spectrum.

[@twilit]

@@fishercourt 💯 scary thing is news giving her attention and legitimizing this behavior

[@kathryneast6919]

Many Adults have this

[@ClashHQ12]

I can just look in her eyes And say it's more than autism

[@m0thdm]

Its not a growing number we just learning about what always ways

[@K.SeeYou22]

she reminds me of Abbey and the one girl that was obsessed with anime 😂

[@susancham4632]

ASD "Autism Spectrum Disorder" is BIG BUSINESS! MOST highly intelligent, highly creative individuals are highly sensitive and socially awkward. smdh

[@08AnnabelLee]

Another attempt at 15 minutes of fame. Autism is NOT "challenges and differences in social interaction and communication." That is called being a human being. Anxiety is a normal emotion.

[@hawksgoated3613]

it quite literally is that actually when you grow up in school you get the impression that all autistic people are the ones who make dumb sounds and wear earmuffs…thats not the case this is why people on the autism spectrum have higher suicide rates and its because you got people neglecting the fact that this exists and is real…just because you don't see it doesn't mean its not there

[@johnnyjayzeboomboomroom9163]

Raquel Leviss

[@i-Mercedesthe2nd]

I personally think its ptsd and ADHD

[@KEALOHA-ju4jm]

who?