Why is everyone suddenly neurodivergent?

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Many highly successful people, including the likes of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates, have been included on lists of famous people with autism (though they were never diagnosed). What exactly is autism? How is it different than Asperger's syndrome? What is internalized ableism and what is neurodiversity? This is what we'll talk about today.
Many thanks to Jordi Busqué for helping with this video jordibusque.com/
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00:00 Intro
00:48 Autism and Asperger's
3:01 On the Spectrum
5:38 Who Has It
9:23 What Causes It?
12:01 Treatment
13:40 Neurodiversity
18:01 The Neurodiversity Backlash
20:26 Summary
21:45 Find News with Ground News

[@salemnj1]

Sabine’s sarcasm is everything…. “I've been told I'm rude, arrogant, talk like a robot, am about as empathetic as a brick and similarly spontaneous but considerably less social. I think that’s wrong and I’m really just rude or German, but then I repeat myself.”

[@kylenetherwood8734]

While supporting that German steryotype, she really destroys the one that says Germans aren't funny

[@4203105]

@@kylenetherwood8734 that's about the German humour you'd expect. It's very dry often very sarcastic. Sometimes it's so dry other cultures don't even recognise it as humour, which I think is where that stereotype comes from.

[@kmech3rd]

German wit often hits hard about 10 seconds after the joke is made.

[@Andrew_Fernie]

@@4203105 I'm British and typically I find German humour to be very funny. American humour on the other hand, I find to be not at all funny or just rude.

[@payday510]

German humor, it's no laughing matter

[@glauberk9018]

I am Brazilian and my lack of social skills contributed to me being diagnosed early as German

[@Chucanelli]

Most underrated comment 😂

[@12dwaggoner]

As a German, I need you to clarify what you mean by this in minute detail using sections ,subsections and bullet points. Include references and sources. Your welcome

[@stefanostokatlidis4861]

Doesn’t Brazil have a large German community anyway?

[@glauberk9018]

@@stefanostokatlidis4861 Yes, I am of German descent. In Brazil, I am considered shy for not dancing or engaging in small talk. But when I lived in Berlin, I was considered quite extroverted by my friends at school.

[@hiwelcometochillis2579]

​@@stefanostokatlidis4861all south America Brazil chile argentina and north America USA canada because they built railroads in the 1800s

[@leenorman853]

At school during the 1960s, I was called lazy. Once, when I did (very) good work, I was asked "who wrote this?" When I answered that I did, I was told "you couldn't have". Then my mother took me to do an IQ test, and they simply refused to believe the result. Saying that I still feel bitter about this after 55 years is a colossal understatement.

[@janchmiel9900]

Lucky you could have gone to school and have an IQ test. My grandparents were rebuilding the country after the war.

[@hjvhjfv6320]

@@janchmiel9900 And your grandparents were lucky not to have been forced to work in a coltan mine in the DRC.

[@stripey7303]

I always paid attention to my lessons in school, which was reflected in my grades, yet my third-grade teacher kept accusing me of "daydreaming," a word I didn't know. I suppose this was because I wasn't making eye contact with her, which at the time it would have not even occurred to me to do.

[@snorttroll4379]

Working in a mine!!?? Hah. you would be lucky to work in a mine! I had to manage without a mine.@@hjvhjfv6320

[@mechticulous8202]

"You couldn't have" Ignorant people denying your own abilities. I have a similar experiences during childhood, thankfully my parents knew my abilities quite well. (Especially if I had to fix the TV & VCR setup in the early 1990s)😅

[@destyrian]

I was diagnosed 7 years ago as an adult. I was told that under the new guidelines I have ASD (Autism spectrum disorder) but that under the old guidelines, I would have been considered to have Asperger's, confirming what you said. The specialist who diagnosed me then told me that in about 20 years, there will be no such thing as autism at all because everyone will just be considered "individuals and different". That sounded rather stupid to me as a lot of people with autism need extra help with certain things. I could have definitely done with more support when I was younger, I can tell you. So I'm not sure what to believe anymore. I feel that yet again, politics has crept into healthcare and does not favours to anyone in the process.

[@CookieCurls]

I first was this as “I was diagnosed with adulthood.” And it made me laugh 😅

[@jamesmcdougal2]

Agree. I was diagnosed in adulthood after having some problems. I found the online social justice aspect to autism to be unhelpful and toxic. These people will say I have internalized ableism lol They are not about diversity as they claim to be. You follow their script or they will silence you

[@AvaCherry189]

I believe wholeheartedly with your final statement! Government cannot fix roads. They’re destroying healthcare and education.

[@davidlafleche1142]

I looked up the "symptoms" of Asperger's, and discovered I have most of them. One "symptom" is "restricted and repetitive interests." Well, so what? I consider it a virtue! After all, if I want to accomplish anything (such as writing a book), I would have to do the same thing, day after day, until the book is finished. Only a fool would say that's bad.

[@makrospex]

@@davidlafleche1142 These symptoms are interconnected. "restricted and repetetive interests", yes, but if you'd rather pee yourself than stopping to engage in said interests, chance is higher that it actually is autism. It's complicated to diagnose other than just tick a number of boxes in a questionnaire and add the positives to get the result. Also, for me, a major difference is that even after i got professionally diagnosed, i refused to believe that i'm autistic and fact checked for over a year until i finally acknowlegded that i'm ASD. Then there are the people that hear from ASD in a couple of youtube videos, then go out and tell everyone: "hey, did you know i'm autistic?", which to me seems more like attention seeking. Short version: If you want to know, get diagnosed by a professional.

[@Sluggii]

There's definitely a fine line between normalization and romanticization, I've found it helpful to not consider my neurodivergent traits "weird" but it also feels odd to call them especially "good", they just are and I'm just me

[@NoxAtlas]

I absolutely agree. As an autistic person, I feel extremely uncomfortable when someone says autism is a superpower, not a disability. It kind of denies the fact that we have to go through so much struggle, need therapy and guidance to survive in a neurotypical society and it creates the illusion that all autistic people are misunderstood geniuses. Heck, I wish I was. I'm just a regular queer autistic with an average IQ who's lucky enough to have a job. While I don't hate my autism and learned to accept myself, I wouldn't wish others to be born autistic because of what I went through myself. I wish society would stop treating autism as a horrible disease and give us the support we need to become functioning members of society. But nobody should ever wish for being an autistic person either. A disability is never something desirable.

[@danielmoore4024]

@@NoxAtlas Disabilities are context related, disabilities like autism are not disabilities by themselves but become a disability caused by the environment and social settings. Like no one was ever seen as intellectually disabled before the social settings became universal literacy. It was a change of settings that caused intellectual disability. Covid lock down was a change of social settings and the environment, autistic children excelled when remote learning before returning to schools, and development of things like motor skills rapidly developed. In the settings of lock down the parents were actually thinking they were just seeing things, it's as if their children were not autistic. Each time we change the environment, the social settings or both, who's disabled changes. Neurodiversity advocates say we should not forget about or ignore the positives when trying to help overcome the challenges. It's been discovered that autistic people in general can outperform nonautistic people at the RPMT test, autistic people tend to naturally complete it 40% faster. The difference between the IQ tests and RPMT test is the RPMT test doesn't involve language, it appears language is some kind of barrier for those of us autistic. Even the intellectually disabled who do things like line objects up as an activity outperform nonautistic people.

[@vade137]

@@NoxAtlas All people diagnosed with Autism need to speak out against vaccines.

[@NoX-512]

@@NoxAtlasIt’s only a disability because NT’s treat people who are different than themselves as trash. I’ve found that minimizing contact with NT’s has been very good for my mental health.

[@jellewils3974]

​@@NoX-512Well... Does that improve personal issues with executive functioning as well then?

[@eriksyrnyk3528]

"I'm not autistic, I'm just German" is simulataneously the funniest and most depressing thing I've heard in a while. I swear a little part of me dies inside every single time I hear one of my younger coworkers say "Oh that person's got to be on the spectrum, they have [insert arbitrary trait here]"

[@leagarner3675]

Why? It's a spectrum. Do you mean that not all anti social behavior is caused by autism? A commenter above said that her autism causes her to correct people.

[@Munenushi]

it's sad. that part of you dying is the feeling of disappointment in humanity these days...

[@ymx7947]

@@leagarner3675 What causes her to correct people is that she's never been told to mind her own business.

[@19Marc79]

I am autistic (self diagnosed) AND german.

[@slacky4787]

@@19Marc79don’t self diagnose, unless you have the right to properly diagnose others not saying you don’t have autism but maybe actually get it checked before just saying you have it

[@lechat8533]

I love your dry humour, and I can`t detect any rudeness. You have a way of speaking, which makes it easy for me to follow your content. Thank you, Sabine.

[@amaeliss7827]

Autism Speaks has put out an advert years ago that was profoundly condescending and talking about autistic children as something that would ruin a parent's life, im pretty sure that's the reason it's considered a hate group. They also support forms of therapy that have proven to be harmful to most autistic people subjected to them

[@mayo0006]

Disappointed, she really should not have just looked into it on a surface level, ask any autistic person and they'll probably give you really good reasons as to why autism speaks isn't very good

[@Skinnerian1904]

Perhaps you consider it callous, but I work with a lot of severely impacted autistic kids, and it can be so profoundly disruptive to a family that it comes to define their entire life. Autism is not a fun challenge or a unique trait your child has. It can completely turn your life upside down.

[@rawbmar1166]

@@Skinnerian1904 What do you mean? Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows? 😂 I wish more people could understand nuances such as you.

[@nocturn9x]

I have ADHD. I won't deny that it made my mother's life hell. I can't even imagine what growing up as autistic would've been. Parents are people too. Give them a break.

[@VinnieBartilucci]

Here's the thing - ANY serious enough malady in a kid could "ruin a parent's life". And for those parents, many of them WOULD want a "cure". That we be true if their kids has autism, were deaf or blind, had muscular dystrophy, or any number of other issues. My daughter is autistic (she's 27, so she was originally diagnosed as Asperger's) and we've been able to raise her and get her to adulthood with a very cooperative and helpful school district. She's never needed any medication, and while she'll probably not be able to live independently, is doing pretty well - she's making mac and cheese right now, while reciting scenes from Camp Lazlo and Craig of the Creek. She doesn't need to be cured. But we knew plenty of parents from our therapy groups whose kids were non-verbal, and needed help to do almost everything. And they would reach for a way to make those problems go away with both hands. And I wouldn't blame them. People who want to find a "cure" are not (necessarily) trying to make autism "go away". But there are people who need much more help than others, and they could benefit from treatments, therapies and possibly drugs more than people like my kid would need. Having said that, yes, I think Autism Speaks skews a bit more to the "Go away" side of the...spectrum.

[@martinrhoads6168]

As a Dad with a 19 yrs old severely autistic son, what happened to him was the paras in school treated him like a boy who just wasn't trying to apply himself.They were confrontational towards him. Made his life and our life hell, until we realized they were ill-equipped to help him. He dramatically improved once we took him out of that special ed class. Wasted two years of his high school, and did major damage to his development. Don't always trust those who say we know best.

[@thothheartmaat2833]

paras? the crab mushroom pokemon? those things are pretty crafty..

[@viscache1]

My sister faced the same thing in the 60’s. They didn’t have a name for it back then. She was quiet, thoughtful and highly intelligent and retained information (that interested her specific passion at the time) like no one else could. But they yelled at her, punished her, even spanked her in school, which was allowed back then) to try and push her to integrate better. It crushed her spirit and set her back years. Later she would go on to get two 4 year Bachelor’s degrees in just 5 total years. She still is emotionally about 6 but she can carry a conversation that is within her area of interest with a passionate genius level professor from a nearby university…as long as there is no stress and she doesn’t have to look you in the eye or figure out emotion or humor…. A doctor told my parents all those years ago “If she gets difficult just “tune her up” (meaning corporal punishment and yelling or isolating her and blaming her for her failures). I think how if she was born today what a wonderful life she might have had.

[@burynice289]

good on you for taking your son's development into your own hands

[@Skoopyghost]

My diagnosis is PDD-NOS. Just diagnose me as a freak. ASD is a worthless diagnosis to me.

[@RetirededKat]

I wish I had someone like you in my life when I was in high school. I had the same situation: "Why don't you apply yourself? You have a gift you shouldn't waste it!" Yeah well, if it was a gift I should be able to return it. I knew more than my teachers about the subjects they were teaching, but I never did any homework so they begrudgingly graduated me with a D average.

[@morgainebrigid]

Speaking for myself, I did not "suddenly" become Autistic. I was Autistic for 58 years before I was diagnosed. As were others. As were many in the past who died without knowing why they felt like such a freak. New knowledge is a great thing. Knowing I'm Autistic has given me so much closure regarding the trauma of my life.

[@lakecityransom]

This is exactly it. Closure. Not going thru the same situations in your head endlessly wondering why why why.

[@msjannd4]

❤

[@neverlistentome]

Everyone can be diagnosed with some form of neurodivergence. Take Synesthesia. While there are extreme cases, _all_ people have some overlapping of senses. It why we describe certain sounds as "sharp" colors as "loud"etc. The reality is if nobody could tell for 58 years, you're probably normal and should be skeptical. Ask who benefits from your "diagnosis".

[@johnnycrash_]

It isn’t simply one symptom (sensory issues) that would contribute to an autism diagnosis. It is a combination of several issues.

[@parkyercarcass]

@@neverlistentome Username absolutely checks out

[@lucaviberti7516]

Sabine, I'm a social worker specialized in autism since 2000. You have made one of the best presentation of autism I have ever heard. Good job!!!

[@j-wp2on]

That's nice, but really, AI is the only hope for autistic people. It will tell you what we tell you, but you'll listen to the computer. Most of the behavior you think is inherent to autistic people, actually isn't, is nothing more than a result of where someone is positioned in society. I've seen this a dozen times over. When a normal person wants emotional distance from me and tries to project their stereotype upon me, and I manage to translate myself into the offenders desired image of themselves, then the offender can't pivot to get back home again, not until I'm long gone. The normal person is kicked out of themselves, stuck using the stereotypical "autistic" behavior they had only intended to mock but now own, because it was always inside them from the start, and their minds break in the realization of this. I can see it in their eyes, their whole world fails to compute, and they crack. Then they are just like me, because everyone is emotional and concrete and logical, it's a question of where and when a person falls into the use of such things, and we can absolutely trade places with each other. Once I was seeking custody of my child due to neglect from the other parent, and that played out in an actual court of law. The judge quoted to me the Americans with Disability Act, and then proceeded to violate it anyway. She couldn't treat me as a human being, it wasn't actually possible, so when I exposed the bias without presenting myself as a target by actually accusing her of bias, and left her to chew on it, all hell broke loose. While she was able to mostly keep it together, the opposing attorney was far less mature to start with. He openly devolved into everything he was accusing me of. He was literally screaming at the actual top of his lungs at me to make my trick stop, but in my experience the only option is the worst option. Absolute humiliation. It was not a small thing to prove what I've written here in the real world. Only AI can save autistic people.

[@IamtheLordofDoom]

Autism runs in my family. For myself, I find it to be a severe disability in some ways - especially in the form of pathological demand avoidance - and probably other ways I'm still learning about. Sabine mentioned masking and when she described it I realise that that is something I've always done too - and I'm a guy. I do find myself 'managing' relationships at all levels and it's stressful. Being alone is the only way to really survive (I'm married with kids, so alone time is a rare thing...) I only learned at the age of 44 that I might be autistic, and at 49 am still waiting a proper diagnosis. I've had some therapy, which has helped, but at £60/hour I'm in the wrong income bracket to really afford this. So I just have to make-do. I think it's fair to say autism has massively held me back in life and still does and probably always will. My children are possibly autistic but we only have one of them awaiting diagnosis, with no idea what support if any might be available after diagnosis. Services for diagnosis are wildly inadequate in the UK.

[@Saphirefenix]

Relate so much to this, with a partner alone time is impossible and managing relationships and trying not to "fuck up" by having certain behaviours is constant and exhausting. And I'm about to have a kid too. xD

[@ViragoRob]

"Sabine mentioned masking and when she described it I realise that that is something I've always done too - and I'm a guy. I do find myself 'managing' relationships at all levels and it's stressful. Being alone is the only way to really survive" I relate to this a lot, but I've never known whether I'm just really introverted or whether I'm on the spectrum. Never been diagnosed or anything but being social has always been difficult for me, but not in the sense that I'm bad at it. To others I seem to be very likeable and sociable and "normal", but inside I'm working my ass off "masking" really hard, constantly focus on not messing up, interpreting everything correctly and responding appropriately to social cues etc. Socializing is *extremely* draining for me, but still, I'm not sure whether I'm just extremely introverted by nature or whether I'm on the spectrum. Maybe both lmao

[@danielmoore4024]

@@ViragoRob If you want to know, don’t be afraid to try multiple self-diagnosis tests. Even though I were clinically diagnosed in 1996 I don’t see self-diagnosis as the problem so many others see it as. A self-diagnosis can help people decide is it worth staying on a 5 years waiting list, be assessed only to be told you’re not autistic. People who self-diagnose don’t try just 1 test, they try about 50 tests before they judge themselves, if they judge themselves as autistic they may see it worth waiting the 5 years for an official diagnosis of autism.

[@Cloak_N_Dagger]

The one detail that truly horrifies me is the idea that the UK equivalent of $75.50 an hour can be described as not enough to afford therapy. Or not enough to afford anything at that. Hell, show me $75/hr and overtime opportunities, and I'll show you a homeowner within a year.

[@theswedishmusicstudio]

I can relate! My kid is being investigated for adhd/autism, and starting to read about it i realise this is me. So so much. I have struggled so much over the years, and found solutions to cope with family, work, tight spaces, clothes, light, ”stimming” (that i just learned was a thing other people do!!) etc etc. I don’t have a diagnosis but just doimg the selftests and reading about it has given me tools to cope better. Just realising i’m not ”bad”, or ”wrong”, judt different, is amazing!

[@7th808s]

As a person who is not on Twitter I wanna say: I think you might wanna dive deeper into Autism Speaks before saying it's harmless. Sure, the fear-mongering ads you could shrug off as just bad PR, but one of the co-founders, Bob Wright, has on multiple occasions expressed his doubt on whether autism may be caused by vaccines. All in all, this "foundation" is more interested in giving the parents of autism a platform, rather than autistic people themselves. Which would not be such a big problem if they 1. didn't claim to do otherwise, and 2. didn't fearmonger about autism as if it destroys everything around it, quote: "faster than pediatric AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined". Yes, that is a direct quote from an Autism Speaks promo video, word for word.

[@hazelnuiit]

I was honestly surprised to hear her say that being against autism speaks is only part of a minority group on twitter. I felt like it was almost unanimous online that the autistic community disliked them. In my experience even before I realized I was autistic, even I knew about autism speak's terrible rep.

[@skurinski]

autism could definitely be caused by autism

[@carlpanzram7081]

So what if autism is caused by vaccines? It's not impossible, and if there WOULD be evidence to support that claim it would be a perfectly reasonable position. Vaccines aren't some kind of magically perfect drug. I don't believe it's true, but it's not impossible. (also, pharmaceutical companies are litteraly sociopathic entities that are absolutely capable of doing all they can to deny such claims even if they knew them to be true)

[@geometerfpv2804]

​@@hazelnuiitYeah, but it's easy to get carried away with the significance of "unanimous online". Believe it or not, most people still live in the real world! Not everyone is a forum-dweller, and many have no idea these "takes" even exist.

[@humbleebumblee]

It is certainly a autism of autism

[@imthestein]

Autism Speaks is criticized for reasons that predate their connection to Google. They have continually treated Autism as though the child is "missing" a crucial piece of themselves and that's why they have the puzzle piece. I think there are better Autism groups to promote but otherwise I appreciate the work you put into this video

[@lisasteel6817]

Neither me nor my son are missing or broken. Our autism is our superpower. Some days are hard but mostly we use it to our advantage.

[@imthestein]

@@lisasteel6817 I agree. I'm Autistic as well but I wanted to explain why they're problematic as I get the sense Sabine only has a superficial understanding

[@jtjames79]

​@@lisasteel6817 Yeah but the side effects f****** suck. If you're happy good for you, I'm getting a Neuralink.

[@torigutowskie6368]

it seems like Sabine could use some intel on the social topics that she discusses on this channel. autistic people usually know of Autism Speaks narration’s damaging effect.

[@SumNutOnU2b]

I'm not ASD but I have a lot of (online) friends that are. Nearly everyone I know agrees that A.S. is not on the side of the neurodiverse. I haven't been to their website, so it's possible they may have whitewashed in it, but their representatives often use language about finding a "cure" for autism and all their research is aimed at "fixing" the people who exhibit autistic traits. Better organizations focus on fixing society to accommodate people who may be different or on raising awareness and acceptance, which is the better strategy.

[@thetran5000]

I took the Adult Autism Test and it said 'there's a strong probability that you are autistic' and they recommended me to do further testing that would cost me $2,847.83 to get a autism assessment by a specialist. The recommendation made my legs twitch and my heart jump.

[@b.j4348]

It's rough - I struggled massively between 18-25 because I was painfully unaware of how negligent my (1 parent) was. @ 20ish; undiagnosed all over the board - dealing with "Mystery Mental Illness" but having been seeking therapy + treatment + diagnosis personally from age 14 - and assumed something so simple wouldn't have been overlooked. Autism is probably incredibly easy to spot in children, as an adult I was essentially just told "We don't do those tests" and when figuring out why.. its cause they don't want to pay out disability / healthcare treatments. Mum's a whacko, irrational actor with really odd reasons for doing things. I believe whenever any teacher or doctor stated I may have these problems, she took it as an offense to her awful parenting. Which is funny imo, the only reason I was ever "smart" - from birth i've been left on my own with zero resources to figure out every single individual problem in my life. I was only seeking diagnosis' after 18 because while everything flew under the radar and I was painfully aware of how "different" I was / borderline unable to function in society. Between 26-27 just got checked up properly out of my own pocket (while unemployed, and struggling with severe PTSD) ASD - BPD - OCD - ADHD - PTSD - Anxiety and Depression. Feels like an alphabet soup lmfao. Cost me a lot to actually get those nailed down; they existed from early teens - so imagine consistently getting shamed and demoralized by everyone outside of my home for failing to hold up to "normal" expectations.. and just straight up abused in family home.

[@Exoskel2]

2800 $? I guess I will live with my autism

[@mightytaiger3000]

It’s all a bunch of horseshit

[@sdsign4229]

It absolutely should not cost that much to get an autism assessment from a specialist, at least not out of pocket. The assessment I took was called a "Neuropsychological Evaluation", and I believe getting that should be considerably cheaper.

[@nerdyali4154]

@@mightytaiger3000 Sure. You should write a paper and submit it to a prestigious scientific publication. The world of psychiatry would benefit enormously from your wisdom.

[@Catstimesinfinity]

I'm 33 and so confused about everything. I grew up knowing I was different but was never diagnosed with anything. I didn't have friends, skipped school, ended up smoking Marijuana when I was 14 and binge eating started at 16. I have been diagnosed now with adhd but I question that as I've been so depressed for so long and have had crippling social anxiety so how do I get a diagnosis when I am so tangled up!? So here I am, I've been in therapy constantly for 2.5 years now and I still feel like I can't control my emotions. I try and tell myself that I'm okay, it's not my fault, etc. But I still explode, especially if someone does something that shows they don't understand me or sees me as less than/stupid. I have been so isolated, I don't even know what to do. Life moves so fast now I can't keep up. I want to be there for my friends but I don't know how to without sacrificing any bit of myself I'm hanging on to

[@CarolBlaneyPhD]

meditation helps a lot. ESPECIALLY if anxious. This is what I've found. CBD calms.

[@Niewiem0]

Trust me ,you will find friends

[@mtbmike6676]

Fellow ADHDer here, same age aswell and i also smoke weed. The meditation advice above is a good call, it can really be very beneficial especially to ADHD people. Just be careful cause if you have any buried emotions it may bring them to the surface. Personally i see no benefit in CBD for the this sort of thing. But also smoking weed is probably making everything worse. Especially your social anxiety. The thing with weed is it gives an instant release from some adhd symptoms in the short term, like adhd induced anxiety. But in the long term it makes you more likely to become anxious in the 1st place and for your ADHD symptoms to control you. If you can, quit! Trust me you will do better, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time. I'm currently trying to quit but i get overwhelmed and then i smoke again 🙄. A good nutritious diet will help massively aswell. Also exercise, particularly weight training exercises will help massively in stabilising your head and will give you alot better control of your emotions. It won't completely stop the emotions that can engulf you but it will allow you to recognise them and get better control of them

[@amethystdream8251]

Try singing or something else, that's enough time to know whether therapy is the way to deal with the problem

[@JohnJaggerJack]

It is lamentable what happened to you and the suffering you've been through, for that you have my respect. But I clearly remember this video not being about you.

[@georgeb.wolffsohn30]

I worked in a school for children with Autism and Down's Syndrome. While doing some flashcard math with a 6 year old child sitting across his desk from me wrote the answers upside down and backwards so I could read them.

[@DisabilitysAREabilities]

Americans scammed OXYS and XANAXX and fentanyl and now their hitting adhd meds…all the scammers from COVID because you can talk into our phone and don’t have to go into a DRS room…stupid parents who are scamming making their kids adhd so they can get pills…and influencers on tik tok and KZbin giving away tips and hints to get late diagnosis it’s PATHETIC!!!!!!!

[@ProductBasement]

Wow. Sounds like that kid has an acute sense of others and their needs and not just himself and his world.

[@spaghetto9836]

See? And they say we don't have empathy.

[@pauselab5569]

a fun trick to do this is to just write with your left hand unless you are not right handed

[@Cocoa_Kalypso]

I wish we could have more clarity on the "lack empathy" trope with ASD. We're actually far more empathetic and considerate than we are given credit for, we just have different ways to express this and may take a little longer to process our thoughts about the situations.

[@insectoid_creature]

the part about autism speaks was rather strange i think, the opinion that it's a bad organisation is really quite widespread amongst actual autistic people, not a fringe group of extremists like you say, of course the label of hate group isn't as common, but the organisation does not have a good or even neutral representation amongst autistic people

[@Godmil]

It was odd that she seemed to imply that it being a 'charity' gave it credibility.

[@romicor9]

It is widespread indeed, I've seen people from several countries (from Brazil to India) questioning what they do and how they get their funding.

[@shoo7130]

Yes, this part seems very poorly researched. Autism Speaks has redacted a lot of their bad history, but many of us still remember the statements they've made, the organisations that they've absorbed, the adverts they released, etc., which they currently disavow even while continuing to do the same things they always have done. The coverage they get in this video looks like a quick skim of their website without any investigation into their history. That's kind of irresponsible.

[@mathiasrennochaves3533]

Why? What this organization do that is controversial? I'm genuinely asking... This is the first time I've heard about them.

[@duane6386]

@@mathiasrennochaves3533 kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4bKfaGNf6t6frM

[@toprz]

The title is extremely stressful for me. I would definitely not click on the video if I didn't know the channel and how much careful and knowledgeable you are.

[@teebeethatsme]

I have recently found your KZbin channel and my first reaction after watching a video on climate change was to tell my husband “I think I love this woman”. Not only because of your way of researching and presenting information but also because your sense of humour is incredible and tickles me. Anyhow - I find myself in a position of being both a parent of a (now adult ) child with very high support needs ( non verbal, requires assistance in every aspect of self care and severe intellectual impairment ) and also currently 2 other children with level 2 ( moderate daily support needs but no intellectual or language impairment). I also received my late official ASD diagnosis (mid 40s) this week. in the years leading up to our younger children being diagnosed, and also myself, I had no idea and would have rejected the idea that any of us were on the spectrum, due to our elder child’s presentation. I argued that people who didn’t see autism as a disability were making a mockery of our child’s situation and felt that they were very ignorant. I felt that people who suggested they themselves were ‘a little autistic’ were foolish and again, making light of our son’s situation. Now, in the past nearly 2 years, our view has become more clear. There is a spectrum, which we knew academically, but didn’t truly understand, and people should be heard on an individual basis and believed and respected when they speak of their own experience or on behalf of their loved ones. I never wanted to change our eldest son, but I would be lying if I said I would not chose to make certain aspects of his life easier for him if I had that choice. I can also say that for him, our other children and myself there are clear difficulties, I also feel strongly that we wouldn’t be who we are without our brains and how we were born. Everyone is unique, everything is messy and cannot be tied up into a neat little bow ( much to my frustration) and we all need to acknowledge each other. Except autism speaks tbh they can bite my juicy butt. I suppose where I’ve ended up is that neuroaffirming care and viewpoints and a focus on people’s strengths and support needs is where it’s at for our family. Tbh I think that’s how it should be for the whole world - neurodivergent or not ❤ TLDR; Don’t be a dick, listen to eachother and Much love to all of you whether you read this book length comment or not.

[@geoffreydesena587]

As someone who clicked on this video with the question “is there a difference between being on the spectrum and just being socially awkward?” in my head, I found this really helpful. Thanks!

[@rubyb7252]

I read somewhere that symptoms between social anxiety and autism for example may be similar, but the root cause is different. Like the cultural ommunity I grew up in was very judgemental and focused on social hierarchy, to where it wasn't a fear of being judged because you knew for a fact you were being judged because you were doing it too. My husband misses a lot of social cues so he struggles through conversation and just struggles with a laundry list of things in general Definitely an interesting question though

[@user-ik3tg6wm4x]

Being socially awkward isn't the same as having frequent meltdowns from being overstimulated, which is my main dynamic that I don't align with my adhd. After eliminating as many possible attachments I found I was still being triggered to dissociate at work, from work, and having to be around certain people too long. About two weeks ago I came in to work and was reassigned to the area I specifically asked them not too assign me too, because it always triggers me. So this get me spinning but I can probably still pull up. As soon as I get to the unit, the nurse manager grabs me and starts going down a list of extras they need done today. I understand this could reasonable set anyone's day off wrong. That's true however, with Autistics I've learned how important your choices are in those moments. What I did was call my boss and went home sick at lunch. This immediately released a pressure valve, and by late afternoon I was fine. Now, play the scenario in which I'm not yet taking Adderall for my adhd, and i still have crippling social anxiety. In that case, I don't call my boss and I just let that negative vortex spin. Then of course, it just gets bigger and bigger. If I make it through the day, I'm now past dissociated, I'm now overstimulated and in an angry shutdown of sorts. I'll get the work done. Cussing all the way. Then when I finally get home, a deep depression would likely set in that could last for days. I think being able to call my boss and not feeling guilty, is a sign of emotional maturity that I have been cultivating for a very long time.

[@boomknight1015]

It's basically the same thing in many respects.

[@TemmiePlays]

its more apprent to massively inpoactful moody events. such as a loss of life, a marraigem, a baby birth, birthdays, etc. that's the type of stuff where an apathetic response almost assures it's not just being socially awkward. shyness is a huge part of it

[@Dowlphin]

This is an important thought, because societal-norm gaslighting can lead to healthy people believing they are unhealthy, so if you are surrounded by psychologically projecting fools, you might believe the majority-imposed belief systems about yourself. And even if you are aware of that, that could imply you are very observant and thus ponderous and caring, so that could then trigger unjustified self-doubt in you. The result is that for example an emotionally cold or just cruelly unrealized-selfish social environment can make an emotionally healthy person become a social recluse. Furthermore, there is a memorable scene from Beautiful Mind that probably flew over many people's heads regarding its implications and the topic of autism: He tried to pick up a woman at a bar, but not really. He used a very blunt approach and got slapped for it, and that amused him. The point there is that he wasn't socially inept and unable to take a skillful approach, but he understood all too well the silly pretend games and formal ritualisms normalized in society to - ironically - manage fear in social interaction, and chose to toy with people's inability to handle a more overt and sincere expression. So basically, you can become a recluse either when you can't understand people or when you understand them too well, arguably better than they understand themselves, or at least better than they want to accept they understand themselves.

[@crystaleidson6042]

Sabine belatedly finding out she might possibly be autistic in the process of researching a video about autism is HIGHLY relatable. 🤣 For me it was looking up articles to figure out how to be a better friend to my several friends who are officially diagnosed, reading over the descriptions of symptoms and going "WAIT A MINUTE"

[@Johnnyflavour-ry8fv]

Hi crystal.. how are you doing???

[@incognitoman3656]

I heard the symptoms, I heard the accent, I heard the humor, that’s definitely symptoms of being german… and then she outright says it, funniest crap I’ve ever heard.

[@justanidiotmk2749]

Haven't the majority of us got checked out and confirmed because we did that?

[@boliussa]

​@@justanidiotmk2749 Often other people could have mentioned it to them.. Also, t was barely even mentioned or spoken of 20 years ago.

[@NJ-wb1cz]

We have ideas about everything and ideas about autism describe some experiences that differ from "normal life", while our own experiences of life create our understanding of "normal life". Like, if we read that autistic people struggle while communicating with others we assume they struggle more than us, we start with our "normal" experience of communication and imagine additional struggle on top of that. Or we read about masking and we don't see how our neutral face and stilted humor are masking, instead we assume everything we do as normal and imagine masking as some additional and probably consious fakery on top of that

[@RoninCatholic]

I _might be_ autistic, but if I am I've basically just learned to quietly cope and function in society as a slightly-weird person. I break into song and dance while working, have peculiar tastes in food, and fixate on bizarre and specific interests only to redirect onto some other specific thing some other time. I've got a brother who is diagnosed with autism, and according to anyone who knows us I manifest more severe symptoms of it, but I've never been evaluated for an official diagnosis.

[@brookethorpe9690]

"I'm really just rude. Or German. But then I repeat myself." I am cackling.

[@aravis_]

I was gaslit all my years to believe there’s nothing wrong with me when there clearly was. Because I “look” and “seem” normal. Now in the process of getting an ASD diagnosis after a massive meltdown and I’ve jumped from therapist to therapist until my current one noticed the signs right away because she works a lot with ASD people. She was the first to take me seriously and not push my symptoms to anxiety, depression and such. I even told a previous screening therapist that I suspected I have ASD but she brushed it off, whilst my current noticed it within the first 5 minutes of talking to me and helped me with the referral. Just because people seem normal, doesn’t change the internal struggles we face every single day.

[@Jacq.T]

This is my 1st ever comment after years reding others online. Your experience spoke to me. I realised my diagnosis 10years ago, whilst researching the subject on behalf of my diagnosed son, nephew & niece. I remain un-diagnosed because in Australia it costs $1800 in the private sector, unless it is picked up at school as a child. Even though I have had Community Mental Health help for years, am now on Dissability Pension for mental health issues & recently received funding through National Disability Insurance Scheme, I still may not use my psychiatric part of funding component for diagnosis... Doctors keep saying "Why do you need diagnosis, it won't change anything?" is SO FRUSTRATING. Without diagnosis, if you don't know me I can pass as "normal", without diagnosis I can't claim to have it without feeling like one of those fashion people jumping on the bandwagon & people think I'm full of it, just what socially awkward woman with anxiety & depression needs!

[@danielmoore4024]

Aravis, From my view, saying there's something "wrong" with you is not the right way to put it's ableism. There's nothing "wrong" with you, you have biological differences that cause difficulties and make you struggle with certain things.

[@SpectreOZ]

With no cure and limited treatment options... why bother seeking out a diagnosis late in life if you "know" your limitations, what works for you already?

[@nichan008]

​@@danielmoore4024 I think there is such a thing as toxic positivity.

[@beanward_xd527]

@@danielmoore4024 saying there is nothing wrong with it is dismissive. If having autism meant there was nothing wrong with me I wouldn't struggle socially or get stressed over stupid shit like not having my hairbrush on my desk during the day and under my pillow at night. When a biological difference causes difficulties for an organism then there is something wrong with it especially when it regards some of the most defining features of that organism in my case that being my social skills among other issues.

[@shiroikasumi]

I actually have spent a lot of time thinking about the topic of being german or autistic .. I know it was a joke, but seriously there is a social/cultural aspect of autism that makes it easier for autistic people to fit into a specific cultural context. For example, german people are said to be more bold, even rude, direct and say what they mean (especially people in the north). Theyre said to rely less on social cues and implied requests and respond more to direct suggestions and say what they want. A typical example is how it is considered polite in some countries to reject an offer a few times before you accept it. Like being asked "Do you want a piece of cake?". Germans are generally more likely to just answer the question. That doesnt mean all germans are like that, but its just more common here than in other parts of the world. I haven't come to any conclusion on what that means though. Are some germans more autistic? Or do we just respond better to autistic needs? Would it be possible, since autism also has a genetic component, for some regions to have a higher prevalence with people on the spectrum, but less diagnosis because its easier for autistic people to fit in? I think about this a lot.

[@AleskyMaxomovishPeshkov]

Maybe because germans have more testosterone running through their veins that's why their autistic

[@sfmiki]

This doesn’t really make mucv sense when you look at how important conformity and social protocol is in Germany. If anything, autistic people suffer more in Germany because the school system does not largely undersdd to anc neurodiversity.

[@gg.6633]

@@sfmikiYes but when the whole country is neuro-divergent, conformity would be being neuro-divergent. It would be the true neuro-typicals who would stick out like a sore thumb in Germany.

[@intersection5664]

@@gg.6633 perhaps, but then judging from what I’ve seen, Germany is not quite on the spectrum. They like their comfort clothes, but their executive function issues are intact, they simultaneously appreciate the literal and contextual meaning of things, and they are outwardly directed quite often. Some character traits are quirky, but for the most part, quite neurotypical.

[@MsSonali1980]

As a female probably high-func autist that grew up and still lives in Germany, I can tell you "No" it is not easier. If you don't act stereotypically to your social group enough, they will segregate you and bully the shit out of you.

[@hyperspherical]

Autism runs in my family too - sisters, brother and mother. But despite having a son diagnosed as "High functioning Autistic" with an IQ of over 130, I thought I'd missed that bullet and was normal compared to my family. Then finally in my 50's I met a psychologist whom I married and slowly discovered that I was definitely on the spectrum and that the what seemed subtitle differences between my behavior, self view and conversation styles and lots of other things were actually destroying relationships. One of the other issues with being male and on the spectrum is that my career in Computer sciences and electronics has meant that I'm often working in large groups of Software Engineers that are also on the spectrum and thought myself normal compared to them. What I can't emphasis enough is the difficulty that Autism causes even when your apparently "High Function" - Things such as depression and feeling completely alone in this world are one of many aspects.

[@marcozec5019]

Great video content!, every time I feel an explanation is falling short, Sabine normally adresses my concerns on a later part of the video.. it's feels soo releiving, soothing my itching brain..❤

[@floydwhatchacallit6823]

I once received a text message from an ex girlfriend that said "I just got back from the doctor" (which is normally not a good text to get from an ex). She said " I was just diagnosed with moderate autism, which means you're severely autistic." We both had a good laugh over it because it's true. I do have an issue with autism speaks though. They're getting better as an organization, but historically they have been a group of parents, who are more obsessed with how they're children interact with them, than the welfare of their child. Basically "why does my child not love me?" and "look at how this effects my life as a parent."

[@b.6603]

This. Autism speaks as a hate group might be hyperbole but is not a fringe theory. They have historically not given a shit about the actual wellbeing of autistic children.

[@adampope5107]

Autism speaks had incident where they were taking funds raised by the white supremacist Sons of Odin.

[@wolframstahl1263]

Yeah, agree on the autism speaks front. While accusations of "eugenics" are definitely an exaggeration, their focus seems to make the symtoms of autism less noticable to the people around, not the autistic person themselves. And Sabine did a pretty good outline of the negative effects masking like this can have, especially if it's sold as "you're broken and masking is the fix".

[@TheNebulon]

"This week, how to get your child to pretend to be more normal! New punishment techniques!"

[@Furiends]

I absolutely agree with this. As a society "parenting" is the ultimate unchecked competency. There's no performance repercussions in being a shitty parent unless it reaches criminality. It's why parent teacher meets are often counter productive and it's how it's even possible to ban books right now. Our idea of individual liberty is demented. If we actually believed that then parents should have no input on their child's education. They should be asking the teachers for tutoring advise not the other way around. That extends to organizations like that because kids aren't funding it parents are.

[@missoffline1866]

I'm autistic and was diagnosed at the age of 27. Since my diagnosis I feel significantly less anxious and more accepting of myself. I'm probably good at masking and that's why most people didn't see it. The more I go into detail of what's going on inside my head and what I actually think and feel however, the more people tend to understand.

[@zyiezyie]

I was diagnosed at the same age, and has largely the same experience that you describe, that was about ten years ago now.

[@halowaffles]

How did you go about a diagnoses? Just look up a typical local doctor/psychiatrist on the matter? Or did you go through some alternative third party situation. Trying to get myself a diagnoses but I have just about zero dollars to my name when it comes to paying for those services (if they're too much).

[@zyiezyie]

@@halowaffles I'm in Sweden, so I'm sure the process is different here from where you are. I just talked to a doctor about wanting to get tested, and got a referral to the part of psychiatry here that does those types of tests and diagnosis. I have no idea what the cost might be in other countries, but it was free for me.

[@missoffline1866]

@hellowaffles I'm in Sweden as well and the process for me was exactly like zyiezyie described.

[@Piarou]

Being diagnosed at the age of 39 I feel ya. With the small difference that the more I go into detail how my brain works, the more people start to back away from me. ;)

[@dave642]

Having been to the Philippines many times and living in the Provinces, it is amazing to me how the very big extended family’s (Poor farmers) have no problem if one of their children have a mental or physical disability, they are loved and taken care of, with so much help from all the cousins and aunts, uncles. It is wonderful to witness. In the West , more personal wealth but you are left on your own with a lonely expensive struggle.

[@shanesorensen7878]

That’s why I think tribal cultures is what we need to learn from as westerners and get rid of our individualism.

[@mikethefarrier]

My son,who is 4, is on the spectrum and loves your physics videos. Having never been exposed to anyone with autism before he was born. I was terrified after researching it. Now, however, 4 years later, I feel so blessed. Justin is, by far, the most amazing child I have ever been around. Smart, funny and loveable

[@MeargleSchmeargle]

I remember a lot of the problem us folks on the spectrum have with Autism Speaks is that they don't exactly have a sterling record, namely that they made a number of productions in the past which mainly went out of their way to paint us as a burden on everyone else, as well as them (at least at one point) advocating to a full-blown cure to Autism as if it were cancer. This struck a nerve with a lot of people because to them, this was AS seeing them as a problem to be fixed rather than different people to be helped and welcomed.

[@RobinTheBot]

Yup. Autism Speaks against those who support the extermination of people with autism 🤷‍♀️ like the non-autistic-lead "Autism Speaks". Frankly it shouldn't be legal for them to call themselves that. It's really "Neurotipical WASPS speak about how they would replace their kid if they could*

[@NXTangl]

1. Many autistics see their autism as something fundamental to their personality/identity/existence, such that without it they would be someone else. This would make A$'s cure narrative unattractive to them. Imagine a charity that intends to improve the lives of gay people through discovering an actually effective conversion therapy. 2. Some of the research A$ funds is about prenatal detection. There is no reason for this from the perspective of treating existing autistics, only preventing new ones. 3. A$ focuses on the impacts of Autism on families and caretakers. This dehumanizes and infantilizes the actual autistics by removing their experiences from the equation and putting focus on them as eternal children to be taken care of.

[@GuiSmith]

They haven’t stopped, although it’s moved from “we’ll fix living people’s brains” to “we’ll prevent you from existing”. Autism Speaks has merged with at least three other “charities”/research organisations that have the goal of eradicating autism through research into genes that can be tested for in utero. Like many foreign countries have tried to eliminate Down Syndrome, they plan to promote tests during pregnancy that have percentage indicators for autistic traits (there’s practically no way to test only for diagnosable autism before you can interact with the testee), and if the value is over some arbitrary number they’ll recommend abortion. If you’ve followed along, congrats. Yes, they are doing eugenics on autism and the breadth of autistic traits. No, it is not broadly illegal. Even in some places with very tight abortion restrictions, they allow for this sort of thing even into late pregnancy. Many proponents of this form of eugenics will use the necessary rights to abortion and the idea that autism is only suffering that needs to end to argue for this. They ignore acceptance of adults largely because they just ignore us altogether. It’s presumed that this would be the parents’ choice. Except it isn’t, because you don’t get to choose who your kid is. We don’t have very good guesses about who will be a net positive or negative for society, and there’s no way to know whether your child will require your permanent care. As a parent, you only really have the right to bring children into the world in exchange for the responsibility to make sure they’re taken care of. Anyways, Autism Speaks should redirect what it wants to do to us onto itself and terminate.

[@jeanivanjohnson]

@Joaquin the problem is with the way non-autist people behave, not with autism. autism can't be cured and it doesn't need to be cured

[@MeargleSchmeargle]

@joaquin5796 The point was that advocacy for a cure makes it seem as though autistic folks in and of themselves are a problem to be removed, instead of just trying to provide accommodations to them to help them still live their best lives. A lot of people on the spectrum see cure talks as other people hating what is an inherent part of who they are.

[@emmettobrian1874]

The bad thing about this video is that the "charity" autism speaks doesn't listen to autistic people who can speak. It isn't about autistic people getting their own voice, but actively silences those who can by labeling them as extreme.

[@_linlin_]

It's mostly about how everyone is over diagnosed these days, not that no one should be diagnosed

[@emmettobrian1874]

@@_linlin_ I don't think I said anything about over diagnosis but it seems to me like the "crisis" of over diagnosis is just a result of people not being aware there was a problem, and then upset when confronted by it. Remember that even if you know of one hundred autistic influencers that's just a hundred people. It might seem like a lot, but it's not. They have a platform because they're highly motivated. Autistic people have one of the lowest life expectancies of any group. They have an audience because the small proportion of people that are autistic finally have someone saying what they're feeling. What you're experiencing as over diagnosis is just a bunch of highly motivated people. It's really the same as political representation online. A politically moderate person isn't as motivated as someone with extreme views. As a result, you hear extremes more often than moderate views.

[@vadernation1233]

Another thing is that many autistics find it easier to communicate online rather than the real world. Online you can find dedicated special interest groups really easily so you can express your love of something with people who feel the same. It’s also just easier to communicate online than it is in real life. Neurotypicals may not be as inclined nor really want to join these groups so it’s no surprise that when you look inside you find a bunch of neurodiverse people.

[@willdean-stobie5730]

Our healthcare system is backwards. Instead of focusing on keeping people healthy it treats sick people. Since the US has a for profit system this means medical professionals work in an environment where finding an illness makes them money. That encourages giving any kind of diagnosis regardless of it being necessary or helpful to the person.

[@autisticdan6151]

@@_linlin_ If you would think about things a bit more you would realise there is no over diagnosis, it's just an illusion. Look through the DSM and turn the language into casual language, read it out to a friend and ask if they know anyone of such. Everyone you do that to will say "yes" every time, do you know why? The DSM System is only the diagnostic criteria to be diagnosed as a human. Science twisted everything back to front in the 19th century when they invented the normal human. Variation is the rule, not the exception. Society has simply given everyone who doesn't fit the social norm a label and the criteria is just a description of a human, that's why homosexuality and left handedness were in the DSM, they did not fit the norm. Disorders have more to do with social settings, and not biology. Science is supposed to be objective, the only objective explanation for a 'normal human' is it's normal for humans to be diverse. This is why more and more scientists are turning against the ideology of normal, because countless times it has just resulted in prejudice delusional conclusions like the female inferiority doctrine. The female inferiority doctrine caused feminism, another political movement. Science based on the concept of normality is the origin of discrimination, prejudice, and bad science.

[@heofimia]

I love your sense of humor! Thank you for sharing this informative video. I would love more people to follow trough their curiosities and deliver what they have found out the way you do it. Without any judgement and pure facts supporting all aspects of the topic. Thanks

[@jeremyfisher8512]

"overdiagnosis" is overplayed and if you've gone through the trouble of getting diagnosed you know that already. Getting mad at people lying on the internet is like getting mad at water being blue and should never be an accurate representation of rising numbers of autism diagnosis.

[@kenw2225]

I'm diagnosing you ,me, and everyone I know, autistic. If you're not diagnosed as neurodivergent, you haven't seen the right Dr. Everyone is suffering mental illness of some kind. Can't make max profits until everyone is a patient.

[@tealkerberus748]

Rising numbers of people being identified or self-identifying as neurodivergent, and rising numbers of people identifying as LGBT+, are following the exact same pattern as how rising numbers of people were identified as being left handed once society stopped physically forcing little kids to write with their right hand because left-handedness was satanic or whatever. Society doesn't persecute neurodivergent people and LGBT+ people as much as it used to. If it actually stopped the persecution instead of just backing it off a bit, we'd see even more people come out as their authentic selves.

[@helmaschine1885]

I was forced through an evaluation and the hacks ignored all the lack of symptoms from childhood and gave me the stamp anyway. Over diagnosis DOES happen, and many are all too happy to use it as an excuse or way to feel special.

[@p1zd3c]

Not long ago, left handed people were ostracized. I'm ambidextrous and was forced to use just my right hand in elementary school. Some of my teachers would literally get pissed off when I'd go lefty. It's interesting observing how perspectives change.

[@janfyhrholdt2788]

If it was only about left handed. Now its about everyone. Except a few billionaires that are still respected. Only money and power will protect from this modern form of false science in the spirit of medieval religious extremism.

[@jfo3000]

I was born lefty, mom forced me to be a righty.

[@cullly]

I'm (46) a lefty and so is my mother (74). She was forced (and beaten) to write with her right hand. When I was going to school, she went in to my teachers and had to threaten them if they tried to force me to switch my writing hand.

[@TheOldFellow]

Me too. I'm 73 and can still learn a new skill (in carpentry, for instance) with either hand. I have always been grateful to the school for forcing me to use both sides of my brain.

[@cullly]

@@TheOldFellow That's a terrible take. Anyone can train almost anything with their non dominant hand. People were beaten in school to use their right hand. That's a terrible thing and you are defending it? Nothing wrong with doing it by choice, but to be beaten and forced is an awful thing. Instead of being beaten, you could have just... y'know... used your right hand more. I use my right hand when using a computer because it's more convenient. When I worked in offices, it meant I could write something down while also using the mouse. I put the phone on my right side and answered with my right hand so I could also write when taking IT calls.

[@mayatara1980]

Not everybody is neurodivergent. Despite a lot more people being identified, we're still a minority. I was only diagnosed at 40 years old because at 2 years old there was a suspicion by my parents and the pediatrician, but because I am level 1 and my symptoms are ,"light", everybody pushed away the possibility and I struggled all my life with not fitting in, feeling a weirdo, being bullied, having a lot of difficulties making and keeping friends. Only somewhere around my teens I started to relate to autism characteristic but I also shrugged the idea because of how I thought all autistic people were like (based on the stereotypical level 3 autistic). Only when I met some other lady level 1 like me and realized we were so alike, I finally realized autism was indeed possible. I was diagnosed by a psychologist specialized in autism, working at the main autism organization in my country. If anyone knows about autism is these guys. Yet, I still feel imposter syndrome all the time and feel embarassed whenever people tell me there is no way I am autistic. I get why some people hold on to their Asperger diagnosis, because for a level 1 autistic, it is hard to be taken seriously when we don't present as obviously autistic but claim we are. People don't believe us.

[@ZapStrideGaming]

This shows how outdated your info still is on autism cuz of not being taught properly about the diagnosis and autism as a whole. There aren't "levels". That was a term to try to categorize what is in reality a spectrum. There aren't levels to it. That was what the past people assumed, but it has been realized to not be the case the past decade. I kindly suggest looking into it more and updating your knowledge of it. Not being mean or a dick, i genuinely do recommend researching it more. I did 5 years ago for my senior project in high school because i myself dealt with people misunderstanding ehat autism actually is. I highly recommend doing the same, but fon't look at autism speaks because it is a toxic place trying to "cure" autism. It can't be cured cuz it isn't a disease. It's a disorder. They treat it how mental disorders were treated decades ago, back when lobotomy was medically approved. But that is an outdated and harmful mindset they are giving to parents of people like me with autism. So be careful where you get your information as you research autism to learn the modern knowledge of it.

[@Wildpaw0]

@@ZapStrideGaming while I don't personally like the 'level' system either, it is in fact still currently relevant and used for diagnostic and support purposes

[@RGamingBlastoise]

The amount of people saying “this whole generations becoming autistic!” Or whatever even though we are still only about 1.5% of the population kinda baffles me.

[@user-fn1cd6mo9z]

@@ZapStrideGaming I appreciate that you mean well, but you are preaching from ignorance. The ideas of 'spectrum' and 'level' are not mutually exclusive. There is utility in dividing a spectrum into levels for reference. For example, light exists as a spectrum, yet it is useful to conceptually divide it into segments aka 'levels' like IR, UV, microwave, x-ray, and so on. Similarly, there are significant differences between people on either extreme of an autism spectrum. It is useful to categorize these differences, sometimes as 'levels'. Sometimes it is more useful to discuss autism as a spectrum. Both approaches are useful in their own way, depending on context, just like when discussing light. Thank you, my autism requires me to correct you, but I still love you as a person.

[@danielmoore4024]

@@RGamingBlastoise It's all because of the DSM-5, the DSM-5 was not about scientific progression, it is all about selling illnesses and disorders to make more people purchase drugs and interventions. It's part of our capitalistic societies. The DSM-5 has blurred the lines and expanded the boundaries too far, numerous people get misdiagnosed. The NIMH said the DSM-5 should not be made, the leaders knew it would be a scientific nightmare. Psychiatry is corrupted by capitalism. They have simply labelled every behavior autistic people exhibit 'autism trait', when you look at these behaviours one by one we see they are actually ordinary human behaviours and not traits of any condition. Since they are general human behaviours humans in general see themselves performing 'autism traits' so they assume they are slightly autistic but not autistic enough for a diagnosis. There is no autism epidemic as many are saying, the genes associated with autism are persistent because of evolution, these mutations enhance the adaptability of the population as a whole. If everyone was autistic our population wouldn't survive as diversity is essential for survival, so the idea we're all autistic is even contradictory to evolution.

[@sittingstill3578]

I’ve been “researching” ASD for the past five years and this is a great summary of all the important points. I’ve had several close friends over the years with ASD and for the past decade worked in communities with much higher than average rates.

[@JonahReidJessar]

This is the first video I've seen frm Sabine and the tone really set me up to expect fact, explanation, and maybe a little opinion. I did a triple-take when I heard the first joke as I was not expecting clever humour to feature in this piece at all. Caught me completely off-guard and I can't wait to see more!

[@me0101001000]

I was diagnosed at age 23. I'm 25 now. When getting diagnosed, my reaction was, "Oh, that makes sense". It also really helped me put things together and more effectively navigate matters.

[@animefreak1149]

I’m very sorry to ask but I’m desperate, my fiancé is diagnosed ADHD but we’ve suspect he’s been missed diagnosed. His doctor says they don’t diagnose autistic adults only children, any nonprofit charities we reach out to for autism say they can’t help us without a diagnosis from his doctor. He is 23, we are at a loss, please any advice to help him I would be greatly appreciate. He spoke to his mom and she confessed she’s suspected since he was a child but never pursued a diagnosis, which was a shock. We don’t know how to help him but he struggles so much and needs help. I apologize if I came off as rude and for asking something so personal. I just want to help my loved one. We live in the US.

[@Kalyptik]

@@animefreak1149 what do you need help with? He managed to get engaged to you so that means he's high functioning. The only advice I can give is don't treat him different, think of him as an introvert, don't patronize him, help him in situations where he is stuck and can't figure it out, he may get cranky for things and lash out just give him some time and he will be ok and don't ever put him in the spotlight especially in crowded places. I was diagnosed when I was 10, I cried when my father told me and he asked if I wanted to be normal, I said yes and he treated me normal and never told anyone, people just taught I was shy and introverted growing up. We only want to be treated normal that's all.

[@JD-zt2bl]

​@@animefreak1149 I don't know what country you're in, but adult diagnosis is a possibility in a lot of places. Where I live it's definitely an option, but also a lot of doctors are working with outdated information so they might give incorrect answers (e.g. for a long time you couldn't be diagnosed with both ADHD and ASD, and that's changed now but not everyone knows it). It might be worth speaking to a different doctor, or looking up adult diagnosis in your country. If there is a good online support group for your area, they might have more information.

[@DawnAfternoon]

If anything, it helps that you know for sure that you are clinically diagnosed. Because then you're aware of your brain's inherent shortcoming, so you can take sure steps to mitigate what your brain just isn't good at doing at. Better know that your brain simply is undertuned for one specific part of your social life and take alternative measures, than try to fight against that shortcoming.

[@klsit3528]

@@animefreak1149 might not be misdiagnosis, many autistic ppl have adhd too! Very high comorbidity rate

[@Ash-yh5yn]

I was diagnosed with autism when I was in elementary school and went through half a decade of behavioral classes. Through these classes I came to realize that, while I can mask my autistic traits, doing so is quite tiring. As a result, I prefer to just freely be myself and live as some random guy that's smart, weird, and weirdly smart. Then, because the people I work with understand my limitations, when we need to talk to someone one on one, they do it for me. Instead delegating me tasks which I am far more suited for. You need a circuit? Ask ash. You need a program? Ask ash. Need help with a design? Ask ash. You need to ask someone where the bathroom is? Don't ask ash.

[@wasteplace1705]

I’m hoping I can find a job that allows me to be myself more, I’m currently working as kitchen staff for a pub/restaurant and I always feel bad when I need to run food and someone stops me to ask something since I always feel awkward and struggle communicating when things are loud and busy. It’s definitely helping improve my social skills over time but I also hate having to act “normal” for people who have no way of knowing I’m autistic at a first glance because any slight hiccup in my performance gives off the impression that I’m just a weirdo. I guess it also helps me with not caring what people think about me, but I can’t afford to completely disregard that because I represent my workplace and I don’t wanna be fired if someone complains about my lack of social skills or something I overlook whilst talking with them. I wonder if there’s any merits to masking or if it’s just overall a detrimental thing for mental/physical health

[@Ash-yh5yn]

@@wasteplace1705 Hey man, I've found that the service industry is pretty difficult for people like us, so good on you for the success you've seen thus far :) I worked as a customer service representative at Sam's Club for a bit (focused on Club Pickup), and absolutely hated it. I ended up quitting after 1 year, and began delving into STEM. Still, if being in the service industry is causing you stress, then if you have the aptitude and time, I'd recommend trying to go for a STEM related field instead. If you can't get a degree for one reason of another, there are some quick training programs you could complete to begin a STEM career. If you don't have the time or aptitude for STEM, would you consider a quieter job like, for an example, sanitation?

[@DuskfoxOfficial]

Exactly this for me too. For me, I “know” how to become a normal human being; I just don’t feel like. Because that to me apparently means I’m somewhat careless of what I say & do. For instance, I go to a very competitive private school and people always talk about and compare academic scores. While I fit quite well in terms of performance and was doing perfectly fine being friends with some people for a short while, but I soon became sick of the toxic behaviour as it made me feel pretty bad about myself, and now I’m alone, but a lot happier. People always associate autism as a negative thing, but all it means is that you view the world in a different way. Autism or showing autistic traits isn’t something anyone should be ashamed of.

[@Ash-yh5yn]

@@DuskfoxOfficial Yeah, being able to fit into society is even used as a metric for how, "functioning" someone is. But, that's not who we are. We are the kind of people that, when given the chance, will traverse a path which occurs to very few. I mean, I didn't get onto my company's board of directors by being, "normal". I did it by committing to a bad idea so hard that it eventually became a good idea. As for your classmates, I've met a lot of people like that over the years (I'm pretty young), and, well... it rarely ends well... As an example, in college there was a person whom decided to compete with me in everything. Long story short, I didn't really give it any mind. Yet, he'd often lose. This drove him mad, but as time went on and other people refused to humor him, he found himself completely alone. I hope that he's become less competitive and is willing to have an actual friendship, but the last I heard he was stalking a girl I went on a date with. Point is, people like your classmates can be terrible kids, and annoying adults. So, distancing yourself might be a great call. However, don't let that stop you from reaching out to people that aren't a-holes. I mean, even us autistic freaks need a friend or two, don't we?

[@mikethegoo]

Hey Ash, can you ask someone where the bathroom is for me?

[@massmanute]

I have one adult child who is on the spectrum (Aspergers, if you don't mind me using a term that was deprecated in the DSM-5 in 2013 and the ICD11 in 2019.) There's actually a complicated history there, but I'm just simplifying this description. My children and spouse also think I am on the spectrum (ASD). I'm not sure, but I think that a more accurate description might be that I'm somewhere in the "normal" range, but close to being on the spectrum. I say this because I have some of the usual symptoms of being on the spectrum but not others. This assumes there is a continuum between "normal" and being "on the spectrum."

[@dr.gordontaub1702]

I don't agree with everything stated on this channel, but I think this video was really well done. My stepson is autistic and has ADHD. When he was young (his mother and I got together when he was 6) He was put in special-ed classes, which the school system in Florida essentially used to put him somewhere they didn't have to put much effort into him. My wife fought hard for him to get the help he needed, and eventually we moved to Washington State, where the school system took his extra needs more seriously. Today he is 21, doing well in college, making friends, and is fun to be around. He would likely be considered by most as 'high functioning' or 'barely on the spectrum' or maybe even, 'Oh you just say you're autistic because its the fad.' But he never would have gotten where he is today, without a lot of therapy, extra help in school, and some medication that helps him control his anxiety.

[@abarovero]

As an autistic person, I thank you for the humour, investigation and general tone. I hoped you talked about ABA therapies (Autism Speaks promotes those kind of approaches) that are aimed to eliminate stimming and "normalize" children with the goal of adapting them to society. That's the basic claim against Autism Speaks, ABA is torture and no one should be forced to stop what regulates and helps to manages their anxiety. On the other hand, as an activist, the most common feedback I get is "you don't look autistic" and "stop romanticizing autism, that's not it", etc So, I'm dealing everyday with a society that not only didn't have a clue about how I (or my brain) was: it managed to segregate me, leave me with no information or tools to know myself and make me live and suffer in silence alone, as it did with SO many others. And now, after more than 30 years of living undiagnosed, I guess we're a bit fed up with people that, again, deny and silence us and tell us how to cope and manage the way we express and try to help others. Because, in most cases, adult autistic people that are comunicating their experiences and knowlede, are not profiting on it. I don't make any money and try to speak up because, five years ago, listening to an autistic woman helped me find the right perspective and saved me. ¡Abrazo from Argentina!

[@Monotropism0]

jaja que loco encontrar a alguien de argentina

[@Monotropism0]

Pd Sabine está re mal informada, cree y se come el cuento de que Autism speaks es una organización benefica e invisibiliza las críticas diciendo que "son un par de gente de Twitter" cuando esto no es así para nada. Le falta educarse mucho se ve. Y escuchar a activistas, académicos, filósofos científicos, profesionales de la salud que son autistas. Dejé un artículo de Chapman pero dudo que lo vaya a lee.

[@tonyvelasquez6776]

Your message implies that you must often bring up the fact you're autistic if you have people telling you you don't look autistic..why? There's nothing weird about autism. No reason to draw attention to it

[@lukaskebel5034]

This and this is also a reason that many autistic People don't like Autism Speaks. This group promotes ABA. And ABA is as much a valid Therapie as homeopathy is a valid treatment for anything. Not at all.

[@danielmoore4024]

@@tonyvelasquez6776 Telling people I'm autistic is one of the first things I tell people about myself to reduce all the stigma and stereotypes. The stereotypes have given people an impression they know what autism looks like, by I telling them I'm autistic it increases the awareness that every autistic person is affected variously, like through me they can see not all autistic people don't want to make eye contact, they know not all autistic people are introverted, they come to know we don't lack empathy etc... Letting people see an autistic person off of the mass media helps them to stop having one out of two impressions. 1) Autistic people are like Einstein 2) Autistic people can't do anything by themselves When they're aware I'm autistic they know most autistic people are in between those two stereotypes.

[@toreanstudios607]

So I came to the conclusion that I was autistic in my 30s, and that likely my father and sister were too. I told my mother about this and she immediately started researching it. One day, she was reading on her iPad about Dr Asperger and my Austrian father leaned over and said "oh, that's my old doctor". Apparently my oma had taken my dad to the Viennese paediatrician clinic because "she didn't know what else to do with him". My dad never connected his childhood Dr. Asperger to "Asperger Syndrome" or his own nerdiness, until we pointed it out in his 70s.

[@agxryt]

Yeah, you shouldn't self diagnose with autism just because. It makes it look like a fad, and is detrimental to people with actual autism.

[@Xxh0mEr0xX]

Wow that's an amazing history

[@mercster]

You cannot diagnose yourself with autism, nor your family members.

[@alexengland-shinemercy]

Nerdiness. That's a nice word for it. I'll take it :)

[@miro007ist]

You are not autistic.

[@JoelReid]

In Australia the Intelligence organisation ASIC realised many people with ASD were perfect for Intelligence jobs but were struggling to get past the application process which was based upon traditional hiring processes... so they changed the application process.

[@azado237]

I just wanted to say I love the little jokes you slip in from time to time. So smooth, so deadpan, so funny

[@Stalemarshmallow]

I have autistic traits: introversion, special interests, difficulty with eye contact. I am NOT autistic. I was professionally evaluated. I understand social situations, they just scare me. Because of my horrible social anxiety. I don’t stim. Alternatively, my best friend has autism and he stims all the time and is often zoning out into his “own world” but he’s tremendously smart and very fun to talk to. So…yeah. I think people use the autism word because they relate to some of the similarities like I have. But it’s a different mechanism. I think people self diagnose a lot and it’s easier to understand “autistic” when people explain their oddities.

[@nataliemadison-rascoe278]

Do you think that you might be masking behaviors from your best freeing? Good luck to you.

[@Stalemarshmallow]

@@nataliemadison-rascoe278 Thanks. No, I just think certain traits of autism can be shared amongst people who are on the spectrum and those who are not. I suppose it could be judged because it’s seen as a spectrum disorder so if I do have it mine shows up “milder.” I suppose because I have other mental health issues that I am still technically neurodivergent but my oddities come from a different source.

[@em-rv8rh]

also, to my knowledge, autistic girls tend to have a better grasp of social situations. it's actually one of the key reasons why for the longest time, and still to this day, autism has been widely under diagnosed in girls

[@undead.rising]

That basically describes me as well.

[@JundArbiter]

I think I don't understand them. Or well I should say I believe(d) I understand what's going on but as I get older I'm repeatedly faced with the fact that I have been misinterpreting, badly, what is happening with people all the time, and I don't know much about anyone due to not being able to see the line between irony and not irony. I'm smart. I'm a really good imitator also, so I think I basically faked my way through most social things my whole life. I remember thinking that I didn't know why I was saying or doing things all the time, just that it seemed like that was what was expected. And the responses people had were generally favorable so I picked people to emulate and got by on that skill. Edit: I really have to stop commenting before I watch the video. She names this skill: masking So my point is that I am very, very good at masking. My memory is turbo, so I can remember things I've seen or experienced on some level way back in time.

[@kato2048]

I often ponder about this question. The answer I've come to is, we've always been here. In the past, only severe cases were considered but as knowledge grows about mental conditions, the easier it is to spot those who are neurodivergent but are able to mask.

[@KoosFramboos]

Also consider the world we live in now, with ever increasing stimuli. At the same time you have to make so many more choices. Society has changed to where we are always seeing and hearing new things and people. Now consider past societies: You usually lived around fewer people, had far less audiovisual stimuli. You wouldnt have to choose between 1000's of jobs to find what fits you. Most often you grabbed what was available, or followed traditions. You could not go to a supermarket, where you have to decide which of the 1000's of products you wanted. Etc. If people with asd were around in the same percentages back then, many of the less blatant cases might not have trouble living their lives relatively normally.

[@eyesofthecervino3366]

My sister was telling me about a theory that stuff like monasteries and convents may have been largely formed and populated by autistic people. Just this specific niche of a lifestyle where people could shut themselves away from society when they felt like they needed to, and would dedicate themselves to a highly specialized discipline like studying and preserving knowledge or training martial arts. It makes a lot of sense to me, and I'd say it's a pretty cool picture of what people can do if we respect and accommodate their differences and treat them with dignity and respect, instead of acting like they're broken if they don't fit in with everyone else.

[@walkermott1750]

The problem is though what is considered a mental illness is becoming extremely vague and meaningless. We are probably a single generation away from calling being gay a mental illness again but this time for (in bold rainbow font) *inclusion* instead of hate. Horse shoe theory is more of a observed fact than it is a theory

[@SuperDoNotWant]

Nah, it's just now every poorly-parented little snowflake with a conduct or personality disorder gets a parent-requested sparkly star crown that says "ASD" and have to be treated as special, instead of taught to behave. Sorry but if 10% of your population is diagnosed ASD, you have rampant over-diagnosis at the behest of bad parents.

[@cliffdweller]

@@KoosFramboos Wow...this is a GREAT point. Like the band Devo said, back in the 80’s, “Freedom from choice is what you want. Freedom of choice is what you got.” I never really thought about it before, but the lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh is likely on the spectrum.

[@marydefir2140]

Thank you so much for your video. Your explanation of the controversies was particularly welcome! PS: You seem like a delightful person.

[@drpainsjourney]

I have autism, sadly, I got my diagnosis for like 2 years ago, and I am close to the birthday of 58 then ever before. So many problems in the past could have been avoided, and still I got like ZERO help at all. Why? Money, those politicians just want more money for the riches like that always want, and take from those who need them, so our hospital etc. is in very bad shape. I just hope there can be some help for those young one out there, and they don't end up like me. (being on pension since I was 25, doing to bad health, do not help either) If someone out there really want to know more about a person like me, just reach out.

[@samuelpierce639]

As a child my report card usually had a check mark beside “effort not commensurate with ability.” For my entire life I was accused of not trying, not paying attention, not caring. Sadly, even my first wife engaged in belittling me for my various deficiencies. I say ‘sadly’ because she is a board-certified behavior analyst with a PhD in psychology who was withholding information regarding my *neurodivergence* because (in her words) she didn’t want me using it as an excuse. After decades of struggles, I was diagnosed with extreme ADHD at 36. Nevertheless, licensed psychiatrists told me that I didn’t have ADHD, because you don’t earn a PhD if you’re like that. It took another 10 years before I was diagnosed as being on the ASD. Looking back over my life, the signs were pretty obvious: slow verbal development, conversational non sequiturs, stimming so hard the floor vibrates, sleep problems, digestive problems, anxiety, depression, and the failure of other people to understand my superior sense of humor. As Bob Marley said, “Every man think his burden is the heaviest;” so I’m not whining for my sake. I only hope we can do better for our kids. I only hope

[@joejones9520]

same

[@NeedMorePlebs]

What are conversational non sequiturs?

[@samuelpierce639]

@@NeedMorePlebs I often jump to a topic that is only connected to the current conversation via my own stream of consciousness. So, it kinda comes from left field.

[@samuelpierce639]

I’m almost 30 years from Latin classes, but IIRC, it means “doesn’t follow,” or something like that.

[@p_serdiuk]

So do you have comorbid ADHD and ASD or just ASD? The overlap between these two is goddamn confusing and I think I also have both

[@benjaminbeard3736]

I wish i could have seen this episode four years ago. My wife is undiagnosed but is certainly on the spectrum. It took me some time to put it together and I feel bad about how hard things were when they didn't need to be. At the time I thought she was the problem... I now know that my misunderstanding of her masking or mimicking was the impetus of our difficulties. Her answers were an approximation of what she thought "regular people" would say or wanted to hear. I thought she was mocking me, and I would get sooo frustrated. We now both know how to make sure the other understands exactly what they need to understand. I'm so glad we made it out the other side, she has made my life so much more interesting and full I can't imagine living without her.

[@recoveringsoul755]

I'm glad you figured it out. When I start to feel safe with someone, I am known to ask them "Is this how normal people talk?" Because I just don't KNOW. The only time I got along with the other women at work, is when I was forced to p!an a big wedding. I Just wanted to go to city hall. What are your colors? Are you going to get your nails done? How are you going to wear your hair? Ugh. I don't CARE!!! I managed to avoid all the dances and proms , and a big wedding HE wanted was like a prom on steroids with people staring at me. It was so awkward. And then he didn't even dance with me after that first time. It was apparently HIS special day, he was the little princess, Belle of the ball. We're not together anymore. I actually wanted to call it off that day.

[@AleskyMaxomovishPeshkov]

I bet your wife has a "hyper masculinized" face and a very deep dark voice. I heard autistic females have hyper masculinized faces and more testosterone than neurotypical women probably because of prenatal testosterone they were exposed to in the wombw

[@jeffstewart3860]

Great book by Temple Grandin “Different, Not Less” on how people figure out how to live successfully

[@recoveringsoul755]

@@jeffstewart3860 seems like most of her talks are focused on children getting help. But there are so many undiagnosed or self diagnosed adults into their 80's even just figuring it out.

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

"Her answers were an approximation of what she thought "regular people" would say or wanted to hear. I thought she was mocking me" - I don't know what you're talking about here. What was she saying? What was wrong with it? Some examples would help a lot.

[@JoelGlidden43]

Sabine, I cannot thank you enough for sharing your light with the rest of us. I avoided clicking on this video for months, because I was expecting it to be dismissive of my life experience. Instead I found your approach to be, as always, well considered, respectful, and most of all, well sourced. You made me tear up a little. You made me laugh more than I ever would have guessed.

[@HonestlyHolistic]

I find it difficult to focus on the video but I want to know, she is not dismissing autism?

[@JoelGlidden43]

@@HonestlyHolistic She is validating it.

[@RossAlexanderSmith]

Sabine Hossenfelder concisely cramming a 100+ year history of the Spectrum into a sub 30 minute video with a fairly critical analysis and rather unbiased spin. Top German moment.

[@autisticdan6151]

No, this video is entirely bias. There's numerous inaccuracies and false assumptions in this video. If you don’t want to misdirect people don't share it. Sabine keeps saying ASD3 have no say, ASD3 people are the ones who started the neurodiversity movement in the 1960s, and there's ASD3 accounts written all over the internet of ASD3 saying they agree with the neurodiversity movement. Sabine clearly doesn't know the difference between neurodiversity, the neurodiversity movement, the neurodiversity paradigm, and the autistic self advocacy movement. Proven by the fact her sources are full of lies and false accusations by bigots who don't know what they're talking about either. Do you think any neurodiversity advocates would say "Hey, father, don't you try and ease your son/daughter's suffering." That's one of the false accusations by the author of her source "Against Neurodiversity". Are you aware Sabine's other source is "The Autistic Dark Web"? An entire group of cyber bullies who intentionally perform online harassment including Thomas Clements who Sabine quoted, from the same source by the bigot full of false accusations? Look at the response videos to Sabine's videos and see that she is intellectually telling you all lies and half-truths by seeing the sources she chooses, most of them are not even scientific studies and the scientific studies prove she's doing confirmation bias.

[@timspiker]

As someone who has Autism and went trough many of such programs, I can honestly say the "special treatment" has had the opposite effect and I can now handle social pressure less well if not at all because I have been made too self aware.

[@Solis_Pulchrus]

I feel this As I've gotten older and more aware of myself, realizing thatI have ASD has definitely given me closure. Unfortunately, it has the additional effect of making me very reserved out of fear of making an ass of myself like when I was younger.

[@timspiker]

@@Solis_Pulchrus Yeah same. Although the world perceived us as making an ass of ourselves. I feel like that's the way we learn and if people had been less harsh in their responses this could've been entirely avoided. Probably the best thing is home schooling for people like us, as the environment is always overwhelming no matter where they put us. In some ways the world has become a lot better and in other ways the world has adopted a lot of facistic ideas by excluding certain types of people from society. As it's pretty clear to me that we're just being systematically cancelled from having normal lives so that the normal people can feel self entitled and judge anything that falls outside of the "norm" what is a norm anyway? lol

[@notchs0son]

I honestly think it’s intentionally handicapping them since instead of causing to grow and learn irregardless of their difficulties it’s causing them to be complacent in their ability and that they need not try, maybe a lot of people aren’t diagnosed as autistic because the world didn’t Give a single shit and those who struggled worked harder and those who didn’t didn’t.

[@timspiker]

@@notchs0son Exactly, it's all to set a basis for what's normal. How can we even say what is normal when it's such a large percentage of humanity that has it? Perhaps it is normal to have Autism and it is being turned in to a problem... It supposes a problem when the leaders of our world want to put everyone in a box so that every day people keep the gears of society running. It is facism with extra steps

[@Planeet-Long]

Pro-tip, don't ever tell anyone you're Autistic, the moment they know you'll become a non-person in their eyes and just "a walking diagnosis", never bring it up to anyone who doesn't know about it.

[@Nosoboko]

I've worked with kids with level 3 (and some 2) autism, and working together to develop language through play. I only work through a play approach - we only "work" if/when the kids are interested and enjoy the activity. When we play therapeutic games, learn supportive symbols, gestures and hand signs, a lot of neurotypical kids join in of their own volition because it's fun. Teaching peers (also through play) to understand and respond is a huge part of my job and creates integration. Helping diagnosed kids communicate their wants, needs and feelings to peers and adults helps quality of life. Helping parents and other teachers tailor the home/class environment and routines to fit the kids is also essential. Yet a few self-diagnosed young adults of tiktok age tell me that ANY intervention is "torturing children". They have well organised activist groups at University. As Sabine remarks, they are unlikely to have experienced ASD as debilitating in the same way as someone who has no language. One of the activist arguments is "therapy forces children to stop stimming, which is torture". I've also noticed a drop in the amount of stimming kids do after therapy, but I ofcourse would never prevent a kid from stimming. Stimming often seems to be a way to deal with distress, discomfort, boredom etc. For me it seems kids don't have to self-sooth and stim as frequently when there are fewer triggers for anxiety and discomfort. When you can communicate what you prefer, you don't have to self soothe because your needs aren't met. When the environment and people around you are atuned and can anticipate your needs and avoid triggers, you also experience less stress and stim less. The black and white thinking that intervention is torture is harmful to kids, their families and care providers.

[@HisSecretSmile]

Curious, is ur teaching specifically aba therapy or a different sort?

[@Eluderatnight]

Something I highly recomend to fellow autists is supplementung L dopa and tyrosine. Basically doing the opposite or risperdol(sp?). It makes it easier to tolerate adverse conditions. I can also spike levels to maximize productivity. Only thing is its 6months on 1 month off. That 1 month can really suck.

[@sgz8262]

It sounds like you're doing great work! Most autistic people are parimarily against ABA therapy which though it can sometimes be applied in a beneficial way, in most cases is essentially dog training undesirable behaviors out of kids (and desirable behaviors into them) without trying to understand or address the root cause. I've never met anyone who's opposed to any intervention at all, and certainly never met anyone who thinks nonverbal people shouldn't be taught how to communicate.

[@danielmoore4024]

Nosoboko, The only intervention we are against is behaviourism which is what ABA is entirely based upon. We’re not the only ones against behaviourism, the science community in general are against ABA and claim it’s nonsense and abusive by only caring about the surface ignoring everything happening under the surface abusing the nervous system. I have never seen autistic people oppose Floortime, SCERTS, TEACCH, Occupational Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Speech Pathology, Music Therapy and tonnes more that are not based on behaviourism that was already out of date in 1940 and ABA was not founded until 1961 by Ole Ivar Lovaas and John Watson, you never like to tell us about those two cruel racists your work is founded on do you? Just how hateful must ABA’s grandfather John Watson of been to be arrested twice during his youth for assaulting black people in California? ABA is disgusting and nonsense, if ABA actually cared about the children you would listen to scientists and our testimonials of just how harmful and abusive behaviourism is, you would then abandon behaviourism and adopt and insure the healthier more humane interventions like DIR Floortime giving parents better options as we have been demanding. Don’t falsely accuse us again, none of us are against interventions to help and support, we are sick and tired of all the abuse from ABA therapists.

[@PC_18098]

Life in general is stressful, so i won't ever stop stimming, and i don't only stim when stressed, I always! stim, i stim when i'm happy, because that is my primarily way of expressing joy, hand flapping, jumping or rocking side to side or whatever, body movements are my primarily way of communicating, really, that's an important thing to learn about autists...

[@mistercrowell]

A great summary and history without getting mired down in controversy or overwhelming detail -especially helpful for those with a an unclear, portentously outdated understanding and would like to know more and do better. Well-spoken and you it me double take at 21:35! Ha! Thanks for sharing!

[@DisabilitysAREabilities]

Americans scammed OXYS and XANAXX and fentanyl and now their hitting adhd meds…all the scammers from COVID because you can talk into our phone and don’t have to go into a DRS room…stupid parents who are scamming making their kids adhd so they can get pills…and influencers on tik tok and KZbin giving away tips and hints to get late diagnosis it’s PATHETIC!!!!!!!

[@danielwestlund6172]

"I’m really just rude or German, but then I repeat myself." Almost exactly what I was thinking before she said it. Gold, as usual.

[@lisasteel6817]

I was diagnosed at 40. My mother was advised to get me assessed when I was 5 but she couldn’t be bothered. I used to practice facial expressions and social interactions in the mirror and always thought everyone did this until my assessment. My son was diagnosed at 3.

[@bobbyboygaming2157]

"My mom couldn't be bothered".... Oh man... I can relate to that. I don't have ASD but if I got a 20 dollar bill for every time my parents avoided me or lied to me I'd be REALLY rich.

[@randomuser5443]

That has to be the most painful discovery in one’s life. I hope you do well

[@JamesDewey]

This is besides your point, but practicing that stuff in the mirror isn't so unusual. At least, I don't think it is! I certainly do it. But there is likely an observable difference in the way someone with autism does it versus without.

[@lisasteel6817]

@@randomuser5443 not painful at all, it made all my life make sense. I’m actually really proud of it, I am really good at certain things because I hyper focus on learning all about certain subjects how to do things perfectly and I became the go to specialist at my previous job. I’m now an artist and can finally work my creative side.

[@randomuser5443]

@@lisasteel6817 well then, i hope to replicate your success. Im half your age and going to college

[@JenKirby]

I have an example when the “conventional” idea caused a problem. I had polio when I was a baby which led to a deformed foot. My father kept telling me to point my foot forward. There’s advantages to that because having a foot sticking out sideways makes you trip over the door frame! But later in life I realised that it was causing stress and pain in my knee. It took ages to unlearn pointing my foot forward but now that I can do it, I have only had to learn to watch out for door frames (which doesn’t hurt).

[@sleve76]

I'm in the unmasking ASD process now. Hoping to gain quick skills to navigate all those "door frames" out there.

[@turquoismama33]

This is such a wonderful story. Thank you so much for sharing it. I'm going to share this on a blog site, but I will keep your identity hidden. Thanks in advance.

[@STStudios98]

Having a sideways foot can also cause problems in your knee, though, no ?

[@fantomp1773]

@@STStudios98 I'm sure it can, but I think it's better than twisting your knee inwards, and if your foot is shaped to point outwards, I think as long as your knee and legs are still pointing forwards and you can walk normally, it should be fine.

[@Steve-fc4bo]

​@@STStudios98 not when your knee is also sideways. Or to say a differently there are likely a whole bevy of other issues going on due to polio that make this the more comfortable solution. Pointing a foot forward to prevent a knee issue is pretty low on the list in the face of those

[@AirFuchs1]

Best video on the topic! Seriously. Great work, Sabine! I am glad that you started a KZbin channel.

[@BernardSandler]

I think you navigated this topic extremely well. You managed to inject a gentle bit of humour without being flippant. You manage to describe without judging. That’s a remarkable bit of education.

[@stanleysdad]

In my experience, working with children with ASD in a mainstream primary school, strategies that work well for those children are generally beneficial for all children as well. School would be an easier place to be for everyone if we can make it an easier place to be for neurodivergent children.

[@deathlocus1571]

Exactly. All humans are alike in some way, and are all just animals at that. It’s like training a dog, that’s how I view it regarding my experience at least.

[@AtomizedSound]

Amen

[@transformlikeaphoenix]

School is such a cage, like offices. Hence I pulled my child out of school. Why have we normalized such places.

[@autisticdan6151]

@@transformlikeaphoenix It was Francis Galton, he's the one who invented the 'normal' human as superior then produced a one-size-fits-all classifying diversity as a disease. It's the result of the racist Eugenics Movement.

[@Hiforest]

​@transformwithloveandrespec3881 So what's the plan after home schooling? Which industry will they work in? What sort of job?

[@Stryfe52]

I know it’s important to accept the differences in our brains and as people, but ADHD to me has been nothing except a disorder. I hate it and have felt defective because of it; for a long time it felt like nothing I did ever mattered since my brain just would not work with me. Even believing all that - knowing well and good, all of that - I still can’t definitely say that I wish I’d been born without it. Despite all that struggle, a part of me feels better for having been through it. Having to work around something like ADHD pushes me to be better than I could ever have been without it. What is life without struggle No idea why I wrote this

[@ray495903314]

Someone with autism here. I wish I'd never had it.

[@jjQlLlLq]

I feel you. ADHD (+ASD?) makes me barely functional and even though I've been out of the self-loathing suicidal abyss for 3 years now, I occasionally still sink back into that hole. Yet, I can see the 'superpower' side that people say, as I've always had a natural sense for creative skills like drawing, playing instruments, composing music and coding that makes me boost faster than most people. Unfortunately I went down the path of trying so hard to be normal that I lost myself and my skills along the way. This is why I agree that it's a disorder but also agree that it's a superpower. I can't agree on one without the other, because it really is both a curse and a blessing. As you've said, I can't imagine living without ADHD as I've learned so much from it, . Also curious to ask, do you not feel any talents resulting from your ADHD?

[@Mike-wu5ef]

I wish I had been born without it. I love loud sounds but If I hear a sound above a certain noise threshold I start to have a panic attack. It sucks.

[@wendylcs4283]

Thank you! I have ADHD and I too have wondered to myself if I could wish it away, would I? The answer is immediately no. I love the way ADHD has influenced my personality and enhanced my abilities for compassion and empathy among other things. I think of ADHD as a trait that has its drawbacks but also has its advantages. And really, there's tradeoffs to everything.

[@agenericboringhomosapien8108]

Feel the same

[@fxde4710]

thank you for this video! great quality and informed content! I love this

[@larscwallin]

Thanks for making this video Sabine 😊🙏

[@patrowan7206]

As one who has spent decades learning about autism, it became apparent less than halfway through that this was a fair and thoughtful treatment. Well done Sabine!

[@DougDingus]

My observation is Sabine does that with notable skill. She is one of the few I will consistently share and or recommend to others looking to be informed on a topic. They are very likely to take away some solid, practical perspective and enough basic knowledge to continue along from a rational, useful position. That is high value these days. Always is, and was. However, given the growing mess public discourse is today, the need for Sabine and others seeking to add to the dialog, is serious and growing. We are lucky to have her, and I enjoy her work.

[@TheHorseshoePartyUK]

​@@DougDingus Quite. Relevant: Mark Manson's article "The benefits of being Slightly Crazy" Then Dr Tony Attwood has said in essence he thinks the functional Neurodivergence will slowly blend into the allistics long term to cause the next stage of human evolution. The normies are the natural majority to keep the species functional and stable. The others like me bring extra flair and more dramatic changes. A society of exclusively Neurodivergence at my level would likely be too anarchic to work 😂😂

[@zxbn4566]

In my late teens (1980s) I searched and searched the psychology section of our county library for books that might cover people like me because I was sure I could not be the only one. I never found anything. I had no idea that 'autism' was a label that fitted me like a glove until reading a book review in the Independent when I was in my mid thirties. The book was by Sula Wolff, about autistic loners. I got my first professional diagnosis ten years later, and in another country. But after buying and reading Sula Wolff's book I never had any doubt I was autistic. A few years ago I stood alone waiting for service at a car main dealer, carefully following the lines of the steel struts of the roof with my gaze. It turned out that the lady who eventually came to talk to me has a son who is a structural engineer with ASD. She said she could see immediately that I was autistic like her son, even before approaching me, because she observed the wrapt attention with which I was visually analysing the structure of their building, oblivious to everyone and everything. The relationship between empathy and autism is difficult to conceptualise and difficult to understand. I have been accused of selfishness and self-absorption but also noted for being unusually empathetic and sympathetic towards others, particularly strangers and colleagues at work (as opposed to personal friends or relatives) - both are actually true. I can't really explain it.

[@sageof6pandas233]

I have the same issues man

[@brendanschuett]

This is relatable.

[@matthewunderwood2183]

My son would relate. He actually had a similar instance of being spotted from a distance, the person knew just by watching him for a few minutes. He also has expressed your last sentiment and id have to agree… he is more empathetic than both my wife and I… we joke he’s an “empath” but those that don’t take the time to get to know him only see him as self-absorbed and uncaring.

[@natekite7532]

Would you say that you are excellent at being caring in situations where you clearly understand the other person's emotions, but sometimes miss others' frustrations in situations where you didn't know you were "behaving selfishly"? I have been thinking a lot recently about the relationship between empathy, compassion, kindness, and social cues. This comment really made me remember all of the times I've been shocked by the thoughtfulness of my autistic friends. But I can also think of times when I've been really irritated with them because they've done things that felt especially inconsiderate. I think in my experience, kindness from my autistic friends tends to be very deliberate and intentional, which makes it feel particularly thoughtful. Whereas moments of "selfishness" tend to be very casual and careless, which can make them feel particularly inconsiderate. I don't know if they feel the same way about these situations, though. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

[@triplea657aaa]

I'm not sure about Autism, but we are DEFINITELY giving ourselves ADHD through all the multitasking and constant activity not giving us time for consolidation. It also gives us a terrible addiction to a constant stream of dopamine. I thought I had ADHD (I had all of the symptoms quite strongly) until I decided to try to break away from my phone and try to function "properly". It took a lot of effort and many years, but I'm finally certain that I never had naturally occurring ADHD and I had inflicted it upon myself through my habits.

[@eelano1070]

I am diagnosed with autism level 1 and inattentive ADHD. I am totally fine with people self-diagnosing. I think self-diagnoses helps far more people than it harms. I don't feel harmed by self diagnosis and I haven't met anyone else who does. I don't think autism/neurodiversity is getting more common, but that it's just a lot less dangerous to be autistic nowadays compared to the past. We have so many more rights and accommodations, and there is so much new, supportive technology. It's still really hard to exist in this world as an autistic person, but it isn't nearly as deadly and dangerous as in the past. So more autistic people are surviving and thriving, and more people are able to recognize themselves as neurodivergent or autistic due to the availability of information through the internet and media. It's like how more left handed people started 'showing up' after we stopped punishing people for being left-handed.

[@tayzonday]

I’m autistic, as independently diagnosed by four Ph.Ds over twenty-five years. I’m 40 years old. The best book I’ve read on this question is Nick Walker’s “Neuroqueer Heresies.” There are so many nuanced co-diagnoses that interact with Autism. These can include ADHD, CPTSD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder, Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, Pathological Demand Avoidance, Dyspraxia, Misophonia, Hyperacusis and Selective Mutism. Those are just some of MY co-diagnoses.

[@Thrlta]

Iconic inspiration. I myself have been diagnosed twice, once at 2-3, then again at 11. I see you on Tracey Marks' channel too, and on lefttube related content. Just wanted to say it's cool that your viral moment was a song about race inequality and that message was able to reach so many people, you've inspired a whole generation.

[@beepboop204]

fellow traveler 🙏

[@mikegamerguy4776]

Yeah man. Neuro things are real complicated. I'm about to get SSA disability for depression and anxiety. I'm not autistic but I can really empathize with anyone that struggles with neurodivergence or mental illness. We all have a lot in common.

[@captasticts8419]

​@@dann5480 keep telling yourself buddy

[@beepboop204]

@@dann5480 you must be an allist, which is a fancy word for "bully"

[@isleofdead1337]

Nearly 21 now and was only told that I’m Autistic afew months ago. The fact that it wasn’t caught while in school despite the fact I’d gone to several mental health professionals and would breakdown in tears over nothing, frustrates me to no end. I’m glad that it’s getting easier to get a diagnosis for younger kids.

[@Shannon-Smith]

I'm almost 50 now and lived in this world with ASD all my life too. Genuinely, once you realise that yes, you are different and no, you cannot be what society wants you to be you will be fine. Just don't mask becasue it is the masking that kills us so early on. We believe that we can mask and eventually it all falls apart. There is actuqally some parralels with homosexual man in the early 1900's here becasue they had the same issue of having to mask all the time or risk physical or psychological harm. A lot of suicides in that community happened when they could not continue to live the masked lie. Just don't do that. Be what you are - not what norms want you to be.

[@lindareed9320]

I onyl learned that I had a personality disorder when I was about 32. All of a sudden, I realized why the world was such a frustrating place.

[@JeroenDoes]

​@@lindareed9320not to sound rude. I realize it might be a weirs thing to ask but, Why would you accept such a diagnosis? Even if it is true, you would not want the lable right?

[@davidt8087]

There was a time where peolle would hide having "issues" such as autism or ADHD, not even so long ago, even for example 20 years ago high school kids would have ASD and yet be COMPLETELY normal, indistinguishable from any other person to an amazing degree. This is because before social media crybabies, peolle were mean and you had to be "tough" to survive and or thrive. So you had many peolle wkth "issues" that either never even knew they had it or managed very well in coping with it and even thriving because they knew it was either that or everyone would think they're weird or laugh at them. Unfortunately these days, everyone's a crybaby and nearly EVERYONE wants to tell everyone how they have this or that and expect everyone to say "omg I'm so sorry, I'll be so much nicer to you now. Wanna be friends. Let's give you money and attention". I'm not saying that some peolle with ASD or other "issues" back then didn't go home and feel pretty bad having to live a "double life", but on the other hand many people gained strength and true confidence from having to thrive in HARSSH and tough conditions and reality. Today, people will cry or end themselves if the pressure gets too tough or one mean "bully" makes a joke. 20-30 years ago bullies made people tough. Today. Bullies no longer exist or have been pressured by the crybabies to vanish. Oh how social media has changed the younger gen. Gen z is the weakest, saddest, most insecure, most desperate,.most gullible, and most pathetic generation of ALL time. Idk how gen z will survive without their parents. Remember the "idiot movie" where the guy goes to the future and realizes he's the smartest person because everyone else is extremely stupid. That's the direction we seem to be heading. If you don't have to push yourself to gain knowledge or be tough or learn how to fit in with "bullies" or people who can easily push you around or make fun of you, your how will you thrive? Expecting and forcing everyone through guilt tripping them online behind a screen to be nice or be canceled is beyond pathetic. But that's just me. Anyone who went to hs even 20 years ago and especially 30-40 years ago will sigh at today's kids

[@davidt8087]

@@JeroenDoesread my post below yours. Social media and today's pathetic gen z social media insecure desperate kids, have made it That way because they are too weak and pathetic and sad to toughen up and survive in reality. Even 20 years ago people with ADHD or ASD walked around in high school and NOONE noticed because they knew it was either toughen up and push yourself to fit in and be socially likable and NEVER tell anyone you were diagnosed, or be laughed at and made fun of forever. So many people may have had a mental "issue" and never knew it because they HAD to grow out of it. Today, you have to apologize and put everyone with a mental "issue" on a pedestal and worship them or the sad social media copycats will "cancel" you. Kids today are using their "issues" and many even make it up that they have it knowing it's an easy way to gain sympathy, coerce bullies into not targeting them (lest they get canceled by the whole country), and use it as a way to fit in or get support or money or attention. Fkn pathetic. And these gen z kids will one day run the country or have kids on their own? If they're this pathetic imagine how much MORE pathetic their kids will be, if they can even raise kids properly at all without cutting off their penis at age 2 because the young boy said "I like dolls" randomly.

[@berkefeil5646]

Why does neurodivergence seem to increase? Because it has become more common and accepted to visit a therapist or get sent to one for a screening and possible diagnosis when one encounters certain troubles socializing, speaking etc. And the diagnoses have also become more broad (just consider the spectrum of autism with all its ways it can express itself). It has become common business to keep looking into the ways one could be neurodivergent

[@baeisl33t]

As someone who is high functioning on the autistic spectrum, I think the idea of autism purely being a "different way the brain works" rather than a disorder to be misguided at best. I have people in my extended family who are level 3 autistic and you really can't explain their struggles away as just "neurodivergent". They wouldn't be able to live without the support from people in their family or medical care workers. I do agree that autism is being romanticized, and it's not just a pure personality quirk to have. Although im high functioning, I would give almost anything to be "cured" of some of the struggles i have. At the same time, i do appreciate the ways i have grown and the experiences ive had due to having it in my life. Also, you should do a video about autism speaks controversies. I understand your point of view here, but autism speaks really has bad many issues in the past, and they really do deserve the scrutiny. They seem to be making strides to be better, although very slowly.

[@jayleeper1512]

I have always suspected that this may be my issue. I adopted two girls out of a bad situation and the oldest was diagnosed with Asbergers and it has been painful to watch her try to fit in. I think she may be the loneliest person in the world and she just can’t understand why the other kids ostracize and bully her. It breaks my heart to see how hard she tries and I am amazed at the amount of cruelty that is directed toward her because she is different. She is a beautiful person and I have done everything I can to make her and her sister happy. It is so sad what she has deal with.

[@schmetterling4477]

That other kids are cruel to her has only one source: that the adults are not slapping those other kids once or twice until they stop. Bullying has nothing to do with either bullies or those who are being bullied: it's rooted in adults not stepping up to set social norms that bullying will be punished severely. In other words: it's YOUR fault. Now stop complaining and do your job as an adult!

[@jayleeper1512]

@@schmetterling4477 what am I supposed to do, go to the school and kick the shit a out of some kids then spend the rest of my life in jail? I took one set of parents to court but the problem was endemic and it accomplished nothing. Sorry, it is obvious you don’t have a clue

[@schmetterling4477]

@@jayleeper1512 No, you kick the shit out of the principal. An adult does that with a simple threat: "Please do your job of protecting my child or my attorney will do it for you. Thank you for your time." I was in several schools. The last one was the best. The difference? It had an iron fisted principal. There was no bullying. Why? Because if there was any noise in the courtyard he would call the teachers in who were supposed to take care of it and dress them down. Then he would call the kids who caused it in and dress them down. If it happened a second time he would call the parents of the kids in and dress them down. When it happened the third time (it only did once in six years) he called the authorities and had the problem child removed from the premises, in that one case in a police car. That was a great school. I never had any problems there. Nobody did. So, yeah. Get yourself an attorney who knows how to make life hard for the people who the state entrusts with the protection of your child, if necessary. If you can tell that those people can't be trusted even after those threats, find a better school for your child. That is YOUR JOB. OK?

[@user-sl9yh4sd6w]

That’s horrible. Poor little angel.😢

[@catz5377]

I suggest trying to find other autistic kids for her to meet, because I personally wish I had autistic friends since finding out that I was autistic at 25. But don't force anything, let friendships happen naturally if they're going to happen at all.

[@bsharp55]

I'm autistic. During the '50s, '60s & '70s when I grew up, autism was completely unknown except for those cases where people needed constant care. That made my childhood extremely difficult. My daughter is also autistic, as are both of my grandsons. Both grandsons were diagnosed early & attended specialized classes in school. My oldest deals with his autism far better than I did. He was given effective coping methods in school that he still uses at 27.

[@christoph4977]

I think many mental conditions with less severe and obvious symptoms were almost criminally trivialized in the past. In my case it was "just" ADHS in the late 70s but I am glad, that at least now I know, where some of my earlier problems came from. Obviously, as is always the case, the pendulum swings too far in the other direction and now everyone and their dog seem to suffer from neurological conditions. I am not for trivializing those conditions but I would like to see less of the "neurodiversity being chique" BS. Those things can be very serious and I don't want to see this other kind of trivialization.

[@wearethewearethewearethhe]

@@christoph4977thanks for intentionally bringing more autistic people into the world.

[@AleskyMaxomovishPeshkov]

do your daughters have "hyper masculinized" faces? I heard autistic women have more masculine faces than neurotypical women and more testosterone too

[@hibryd7481]

I'm 40 and on the spectrum; I also had an _extremely_ difficult childhood that I'm still pretty traumatized from. I'm glad to hear your children/grandchildren are doing better than you or I did. I feel like I left my formative years right at the cusp of society beginning to become aware of/integrating with ASD. I've always been a little chagrined that I wasn't born a decade later than I was, but I'm sure you had to overcome even greater obstacles than I did growing up. Congrats on making it this far 😀

[@bsharp55]

@@hibryd7481 I spent many years fearing I was sociopathic because I didn't feel empathy like others. I was tested for autism when I was in university and was told I had Asperger's. It explained a lot and eased my mind. At 67 I'm far more empathetic, caring and open to emotions than I was.

[@BasicallyBaconSandvichIV]

I just want to say that Autism Speaks is in fact hated by a large part of the neurodivergent "community". I've actually had it happen a couple of times when I was talking to a person and they fairly randomly brought up Autism Speaks and how much they hated them. And I don't have, and never had twitter/X, and I'm fairly certain they never had it either. The video is pretty good apart from that though, neither ableism nor romanticism is a good thing. Also, I just want to say that getting diagnosis is not always something people desire due to certain things becoming more difficult when diagnosed. For instance getting a drivers license can become a lot more difficult due to having to navigate additional redtape which wouldn't be there without a diagnosis. So while a diagnosis CAN provide a lot of help, it isn't always the smartest thing to do. Which is frankly, a shame, and a sign of there actually being significant problems that need to be addresed.

[@tb6341]

Informative with a pleasant mix of dry humor as usual. Thank you.

[@samsoncooper1]

I had a good friend with ASD when I was younger. He found it weird that his parents said he didn't used to talk to them He felt he was talking to them. Red in the face he told me for years he thought they could hear his inside voice, because he could hear it. Used to get a bit upset when people wouldn't listen to what he was saying in his head.

[@florian2442]

I'm glad you're raising awareness of the little-talked about group I also find myself in, who suffer from the "being german" disorder.

[@onlythetruth883]

florian Elaborate on that disorder please.

[@ivoryas1696]

@@onlythetruth883 kzbin.info0fMzJtWKQYY?si=XpOuFchSKO6UtznM 🇩🇪

[@woodennecktie]

Sabine , remember finding a normal person is so much harder than pointing fingers at others . i'm certainly not normal and proud of it . It's not always easy to cope but eternally better than normal

[@weekndfantasy]

love the way you have source for everything you say. plus adding your neurodivergent test results, great video!

[@jenverwoerd9725]

Thank you for making this video. Our son is 8, and has ADHD and ASD - his Pediatrician said that 10 years ago he could have called it Aspergers. The tone and mood of many online support groups have left us reeling from the strident vitriol and blatant intolerance for people with different experiences. In our experience, Autism sucks. Our son battles socially to the point he can't do activities without one of us with him. He can't keep friends because of his ways. School is a disaster and I always have to be available for that phone call from his teacher. The journey to finding medication that properly helps him is fraught. Autism is not a superpower. We see him struggle every day. We should be allowed to say this.

[@LaurelK]

As a neurodivergent (ADHD and Autism) teen girl, I agree with you. I was only diagnosed at age 14, and growing up home life and school were a struggle. It was hard. Just a cycle of being absolutely disappointed in myself because I said or did something that made people avoid me and feeling the shame of my parents because I couldn't live up to their expectations of how I should act in society. So many people around me didn't understand my thought processes, or how I functioned. One of the most specific examples of this was people around me thinking that I was overreacting and attention seeking when I was hurt because of "over exaggerated reactions" when in reality, as an autistic person, I feel feelings so much deeper than the average person, and my feelings were real. My parents who raised me as best as they could, with the efforts of 1000 suns, found it draining to parent me. Even now, my life is a struggle. With ADHD medication so scarce, and the stresses of my final year in highschool, life is hard. While it's amazing that we are normalising support needs, and non-verbalism, and stimming, and all of this, we should be able to say that we struggle and battle in a world that we don't understand, and that doesn't understand us. It is even hard for our parents who feel so hurt and drained because they love us so much it's hard to see us struggle. It does not make you a bad person or parent to say that the experiences of raising an ADHD and autistic are so hard, because us kids, including at 8, know it as well (except we may not be able to express it). My one piece of advice though is it to share the hardships with your son and not to put the blame on him that could make him feel like a burden. That being said, there are some amazing advantages to being AuDHD (basically being both ADHD and autistic). The first being that I feel emotions so deep, to the point where it is so overwhelming strong that it has to come out of my body. It so amazing to think about the fact that I experience happiness and love on a whole other level, that I have to hug my sisters and mum and dad or else I feel like I'm going to burst. In addition my pattern recognition skills are incredibly helpful it my everyday life. I've avoided car crashes by swerving into the next lane, been able catch falling objects, and even guess the end of movies (perfect for someone who loves knowing the plot before it even begins). However, this acceptance has taken an incredibly long time. For me it took 4 years since my diagnosis, and 18 from the time I was born. Same with my parents. The journey is hard, and autism sucks, but it is also gets better and easier as life goes on. In support groups we should be able to confidently say "this is shit", "it's hard", "i hate it for me and my kid", because that's the truth for many, and will remain that way.

[@rahbeeuh]

​@@LaurelKhi just wanted to point out that I think the term you're looking for is neurodivergent. All of humanity is neurodiverse. They are two different terms.

[@danielmoore4024]

Jen Verwoerd, If you’ve been telling autistic people you want a cure to autism there’s no wonder they have a go at you, desiring a ‘cure’ sends out a very offensive message. It basically means you believe the world would be a better place if they didn’t exist, that you’re suggesting genocide. Some autistic people have committed suicide because of their parents wanting to cure them. If you could be more specific with them and stop placing all the blame on the autism they would be far kinder and tolerant with you, how would you feel if your parents kept telling you the world would be better without you? Communication works in both directions, if there’s communication issues the non autistic people are not trying to understand your son, I suggest you look up the “double empathy problem” and read some of the studies they’ve constructed showing autistic and non autistic people communicate equally well and it’s the mismatches that cause the problems, not the autism.

[@LightBringer666]

more voices like you need to be heard. my parents had no idea i was autistic, and neither did i, but the struggles you described your son having are very similar to the ones i went through (and still go through now in my early 20s). i had suspicions that i was different very early on, but only realized i may be autistic around age 19, it took a few years for it to click and here i am... undiagnosed, masked for too long that no one recognizes that i need help, and forced to act like a normal person while going through hell mentally. never got support, never got heard, and barely got by in those years. i'm the oldest, so my parents had to take care of my younger siblings, and because of that none of my needs were met.all i got from my parents was being pressured to do well in school like a normal kid, while my issues adapting and meeting the demads of the educational system got worse. all i can think of on a daily basis is what could have been done better for me so that i'd have a better life now instead of living alone with no desire to interact with others in person, unable to find a job (or function well enough to do and keep one for that matter). i don't want to scare you, my experience in no way reflects what may happen to your son (i know a mother worries the world 10 times over for her children) but i feel like pointers on what i went through could help, even if just a little bit. my advice for you as someone whose life was essentially wasted due to negligence (and now denial of the fact that i have a condition in the first place because "you're normal, you've always been") is to help your son communicate his feelings, don't be afraid to be abstract, like discussing how feeling a certain emotion mentally and physically feels (how fast are your thoughts running? Are you feeling heat in any particular area?...etc. i'm physically sensitive and it's how i've learned to understand what i'm feeling over the years) put up with incessant need for explanation and "why?" questions, because that may be how he forms understanding, or the dots aren't connecting in his mind because he sees a different picture of it in his mind, unlike neurotypical people. for example, i remember asking my mom "why do i have to wear a suit at this event? why does it matter that i look good? why do people care about that if they'll see me normally dressed every other day?...etc." and she yelled at me, and i still don't have an answer to my questions nor do i get why she got angry at me. find alternatives to school if possible, he may be going through a lot more socially than you're even aware and simply does not communicate it, and you can definitely expect that in the teenage phase if it's not happening yet, kids and teens are vicious because they don't get how much their words affect others, and they'll target the low hanging fruit, those who are easy to put down, bully and exclude. if my parents had listened to me and discussed alternative attendance options with my school, i could have studied, completed my homeworks and assignments all from home, and only attended school for the tests and exams, without ever having to put up with these pieces of shit in my class 5 days a week for 12 years, always wondering if there's something wrong with me or if i'm doing wrong, feeling trapped, imprisoned through school attendance, forced to conform in uniform and study in my free time where i had no room to express or explore my interests. i could have socialized by attending local events, going to clubs...etc. but my experiences at school and with people in general made me hate and reject going anywhere like that, and now as an adult i feel so far behind on social skills, and i can't mask on command so it's not easy even going out to buy groceries sometimes. if he has a fascination or obsession with something go 100% in supporting it, it'll probably be his specialty when he grows up. i think back to how many times my parents would unplug my computer when i was having fun learning to mod video games, because "i have to study". or rejecting buying me an instrument to learn music because i'd be too noisy. i never got to explore my passions and my time was wasted on 16 years in the educational system for a degree that isn't what i want to do and isn't even getting me a job. now as an adult i've been conditioned into not doing the things i like because i feel guilty doing it, and instead i spend the time feeling bad about the things i want to be able to do but can't. pretty sure part of it is PTSD, which wouldn't surprise me considering how sensitive to stress and conflict i've always been. knowing how my talents were wasted, when i noticed my younger brother drawing up a very nice doodle and realized he loves art, even though he's not autistic, a bit of encouragement from me and urging my parents to sign him up for art classes after school, now he's a very talented artist with a great job where his artistic skill is involved. apologies if this was too ranty or if it made you worried, i just wanted to let you know that the struggles you go through raising your child are real and it's neither your fault nor the child's fault, humanity as a whole still has not caught up with understanding autism and how best to help raise and integrate those with the condition into society properly. i fight on the daily to not be part of that suicide statistic because i know i am worth more than what this world has made me feel i am, and i do not wish to give up until i can feel relaxed and able to be myself around others without the constant anxiety and certainly without the masking. and if my experience could help someone not go through the same that i did, or do better than my parents unintentionally did, then that is what i set out to do. these social justice narcissist assholes have hijacked every movement, pretending they're part of it and making it all about themselves, ruining things for those of us who actually are part of these demographics. autism is not politics, it's a disorder that people suffer from, both from having it and from having to raise a child with it in an environment that is not for them. bless you, have a good day, and remember that your efforts and struggles are worth it for your child's future regardless of the hand he was dealt in life. wish you and anyone with similar struggles the best. Peace! :)

[@LightBringer666]

@@LaurelK happy for you that you got your diagnosis early on and are doing well thanks to the support. it's a tough journey and each of us has a unique one to boot, knowing that others go through the same that i did/do does not bring me comfort, rather it bothers me more that my horrible experiences growing up and dealing with people on top of dealing with my autism that i didn't even know about or understand, aren't just some odd fluke or rare occurrence. and worst of all our voices aren't heard because the loudest ones are narcissistic shitbags who pretend to be autistic to get attention to themselves, not caring how they affect those of us who actually struggle with it nor about the fact that they're exploiting other people's struggles and disability for attention.

[@HappyCodingZX]

"I'm not rude and awkward, I'm just German" - love it. In all seriousness, there is an important point here, every culture has its own leaning towards individualism and collectivism, and how much atypical behaviour is or is not accepted. I think there is a tendency in modern culture, as hollow as it is, to appropriate pretty much anything to wear as a badge or to feel some sense of belonging, whilst at the same time wishing to stand out from the mainstream. Speaking personally I've always had patterns of behaviour that would match the description of 'socially divergent' but I've never felt the need to wear the t-shirt. My loved ones know and accept it and that's really all that matters to me.

[@bernmahan1162]

Exactly.

[@bestaqua23]

To be fair when I ask my doctor if I should get diagnosed he said thet if I don't have probalms thet can be better address with a diagnosis I should not bother

[@skywalkerjones]

I like how I searched “why does everyone think they have autism” and it’s already in the search results 😂

[@MikefromCanada5426]

I have an autistic grandson. Aged 3 1/2. He was diagnosed at a level 3 and was expected to remain non-verbal. He now speaks in sentences, still hard to make out at times, but improving. We were fortunate enough to be able to enroll him in behavior therapy and this along with working with him at home, has made all the difference. His mother, ( my daughter), has been amazing with him for getting him the help that he needs and constantly working with him. Grayson, (my grandson), lives in a caring and loving environment and this too has helped immensely. Great video, brings everything together for desiminating and understanding autism spectrum disorder. Thanks

[@avastapleton853]

Many of these diagnoses are shared with FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder), which is estimated to be 5x more common than ASD and also shares symptoms with ADHD, physical symptoms like chronic ear infections, poor circulation, etc. Unfortunately, it isn’t very well known, and many people are misdiagnosed with other things like ADHD or ASD so just thought I’d share another neurodivergence.

[@nkmatopycide4179]

Yes, yes yes! I had chronic ear infections as a child, and studied FASD intensely as I have many job hours of clinical studies and interview footage concerning FASD and you are absolutely correct, not only that but unfortunately as you said nobody really knows this stuff.

[@therabbithat]

Lead poisoning can cause ADHD-like difficulties and the US has more lead in its water than most countries, but oh no, people on the internet want you to worry about red dye in food

[@cecilia5740]

I had a lot of ear infections as a kid, but my mum doesn’t drink. She smokes a bit but I dunno what she did when she was pregnant

[@candinunya5211]

Fasd requires impaired intelligence. If this is not present the dx is a complete r/o

[@avastapleton853]

@@candinunya5211 There are multiple FASDs, and if you have FAS (the most severe form), ‘impaired intelligence’ would be more apparent. But the most common form of FASD is a spectrum and presents itself in several ways. There also isn’t really a proper way to gauge every child’s intelligence. It’s a neurodivergence.

[@kareoka77]

My son has Aspergers, he was diagnosed almost a year ago, at the age of 11. He has a "high functioning" form (high IQ, excellent marks in school, no speech problems whatsoever), but he always had his "quirks" (i.e. peculiarities with food, problems with sleep, general sensitivity + obsession with weather/cosmology/physics -- we watch this channel together :-). We lived in Kyiv, Ukraine - so when the war started, it has affected him greatly, he went into complete meltdown and shutdown. We turned to psychologists/ psychiatrists for help for what we thought was PTSD/depression, but it turned out that on top of that, he had an ASD as a "base". I was crushed with this diagnosis at first, but later I accepted it, and it even made easier for me to accept and deal with his "peculiarities". He is absolutely unique, I would not change a thing about him, I love him so much.

[@kylefrandsen2665]

Slava Ukraini! So sorry your family experienced that trauma. When my son was diagnosed, it opened my eyes and I realized that I (computer programmer), my father (electrical engineer) and his father (engineer and avid coin collector) were also likely on the spectrum. If anything, I think that has helped my son, because I can say "you're like me" and he doesn't feel like he's doomed or a freak - he sees that I'm doing okay and a good person and knows he will be too.

[@kareoka77]

​@@kylefrandsen2665 Glory to the Heroes! Its great that you have (and you are) a positive role model for your son. We now think that my husband might be on a spectrum too, he is a creative director with his own quirks, so I always attributed those quirks to his profession and not to any medical condition - could be wrong). We also have 8 grand parents and great-grand parents as engineers, so that might be a sign as well))). Thank you for your supportive message, all the best to your son and to you!

[@kylefrandsen2665]

@@kareoka77 Working in I.T. and growing up surrounded by people from JPL/Caltech, I think the quirks find the career - not the other way around 😁. I think it's one of the reasons I was never diagnosed. In that crowd I'm "normal".

[@PrivateSi]

It's mostly down to Big Pharma wanting to drug kids, and Big Psychiatry profiteering by continuously broadening the scope of an illness so more and more are diagnosed. This is combined with a polarised, schizoid world, with two awful Western ideological factions, Libs and Cons, who's deeply confused, fundamentally dissonant ideals are rammed down Kids brains... Social norms changing faster than you can change sex, which is now rather rapid, and also a neo norm for neo-people. Formal language and slang changing so quickly half the kids are better at communicating using emojis and adults don't understand what they're going on about. -- Autism is so liberally polluted as a diagnosis it now means a state of social and cognitive confusion, which the Neo World Order breeds faster than it can mass import foreigners from the 2nd and 3rd world. The fact they call it Classical Autism is a liberal joke. They know full well Autism is now a Cash Cow pushed by Big Pharma, Big Psychiatry and an owned MSM.

[@bazoo513]

@@kylefrandsen2665 Exactly. My best programmer was on the spectrum - had severe difficulties reading non-verbal cues etc, but once she decided we were "all right" and that our jokes were not targeted at her, we functioned perfectly (until she found a job with conditions I could not match 😞). We are still in occasional contact.

[@alextilson9741]

10:30 Off the top of my head, a factor for bias here could be that the mother may have undiagnosed autism themselves, and obesity and autism are themselves correlated.

[@killernat]

autism speaks is problematic for more reasons than the eugenics claims. for 1 not a single board member has any form of autism, their primary goal (based on actions)is not to help people with autism but to make parents lifes easier at the cost of the childs mental health

[@rebeccaw9656]

As a mother with a neurodivergent family, this is one of the best explained videos I’ve seen to date, on autism. New subscriber😊. What has been beneficial to my children: diagnosis early, start therapies early, and a supportive school system (mine are fortunate to attend a school specialised for disabilities) which enables them to thrive and learn and form friendships and communities. We have been very fortunate, because not every town/city/country has this.

[@kuuro_7712]

I love this. I was diagnosed when I was 24 and I cannot imagine how differently my life would be with support like that. You rock

[@dabordietrying]

supportive family members are also very very helpful! thank you for being understanding, from an autistic woman who didn't have an understanding mother. i appreciate you.

[@YuzuruA]

you will love the videos about quantum gravity and super determinism

[@Johnnyflavour-ry8fv]

Hi Rebeccaw. How are you doing???

[@catserver8577]

My diagnosis at age 4 of OCD was blamed on my mother similarly to the "refrigerator" theory. My mother took it very badly, and left us. She literally thought she had created dysfunctional children. Before she passed away, I told her that after my having years of therapy that she was not, in fact, the cause of my neurological disorder, and she cried with relief. Sabine, thank you for this very rational (as usual) conversation. The point at minute 17:20 is a brilliant explanation of the way society can really do better. I hope you make it into a short. I know some people I'd like to share that with.

[@0MoTheG]

In a way your parents are the cause, but genetics are highly random. ASD is much like homosexuality in that it is not caused by parenting and can not be undone by parenting either.

[@TurboXray]

@@0MoTheG I would say "source", not "cause". Because "cause" assumes blame.

[@Survivalist_Redo]

@@TurboXray what is blame what does the word blame mean

[@peter9477]

​@@Survivalist_Redo Blame implies fault, and fault means someone did something wrong. "Source" is neutral and accurate, "fault/blame" are clearly not.

[@guilledcf1547]

you were diagnosed OCD at the age of four? that is nonsense.

[@francoismagne5863]

Another fine video by Sabine, highly informative, concise and humorous at the same time.

[@jn1mrgn]

The Psychology Today article you dismiss is completely correct. I was told all my life that I was abnormal and that I needed to be "fixed". With drugs, etc. CBT has helped; it's helped me realize that there is nothing wrong with me. There's something wrong with other people. I embrace my "Aspergers" abilities now as Elon Musk does.

[@laiag4854]

Hey, awesome video! Just wanted to point something out. Autism Speaks isn't only controversial for what you said, they also have done adds such as "I am autism" in which the narrator (the "voice of autism") threats families with divorce and unhappiness. Yup. The management of the fundraising money has also been frequently questioned, among other stuff. Please be careful with Autism Speaks!

[@the11382]

You also shouldn't forget about their past partnership with the Judge Rotenberg Center.

[@cavios8889]

​@@the11382 Holy hell, seriously? The Judge Rotenberg Center was condemned by the United Nations Specual Rapporteur for Torture. It has endured against bipartisan political support due to big monetary interests. Matthew Israel founded it with inspiration from a fictional utopia that he read about at university. He tried utilizing his methods with children, but found he didn't have enough control because their parents were too concerned for their well-beings. So, he moved on to autistic people - specifically and primarily, people of color from New York City who happen to be autistic. At the Judge Rotenberg Center, employees strapped an autistic child to a four-point board and administred torture via electric shocks. The boy had burn marks because he was shocked so much. The punishment was because he didn't remove his jacket in a manner that the employees deemed timely. People have gotten away with torture of autistic children in Massachusetts, USA.

[@settheshallow8913]

Autism Speaks advocates for "curing" autism; Autism is a neural condition that literally cannot be cured. It seems like their interest is curing the world of autism, which is why them funding a project seeking to genetically map autism was so controversial. Also yeah it's been found that the vast, vast majority of their funding goes into horrific advertisements that frame autism as something that ruins your children and their lives and will ruin everything.

[@DeniseSkidmore]

Divorce and depression are at higher rates among autistics.

[@dr.victorvs]

@non-adjective I think you're suffering from social psychology's fundamental attribution error. It's laughable to accuse Sabine of being afraid of peer review. Most channels just use pre-made filter lists that are available on the Internet. Most channels would have a terrible comment section if they didn't. If you do know for sure that certain phrases are being blocked that shouldn't, just write around them 🤷

[@lucysmith271]

I am Autistic myself and i would highly recomend going back and looking more into Autism speaks, it is more than just a group of people on twitter calling them a hate group, a large part of the Autism community find Autism speaks to be problamatic and hateful, implying that Autism is something that needs to be cured whereas a large part of the Autism community don't want a cure, they want support and acceptance. Autism speaks tends to only support parents of people with Autism rather than the Autistic person themself.

[@friedkrill]

You've expressed this with more grace than I could muster. Imagine researching a monied hate-group for a day or two and confidently giving them a passing grade because their opponents' tone bothers you 😵‍💫

[@dezthedapper1181]

While I agree for higher functioning autists like us, if lower functioning autists (The non-verbal ones) were able to be "cured" that would be great! Though alleviation of their symptoms is far more likely, yes? And what is there to support such lower-functioning individuals? I'm drawing blanks on what would be considered supporting them rather than the people who care for them (usually the parents.)

[@lucysmith271]

@@dezthedapper1181 even with non verbal autists, the fact that they are non verbal is one trait of their autism, would it be great if their was a way to help them to be abled to become verbal, absolutely, but that’s not curing their autism, it’s helping one trait of their autism. the idea of “curing autism” is so wrong for so many autists is because autism isn’t just sensory issues and meltdowns and struggling with speech (obviously it’s different for everyone at which area they struggle most). autism is a neurotype, curing autism wouldn’t just be alleviating people who are non verbal, it would be completely changing their brain, the way they engage with the world and how they interact with it, the way they feel about things and the way they function. i understand where the urge for a cure comes from for some people with autism becuase, yeah it sucks a lot of the time, i don’t leave the house, i haven’t showered in over a year, i have to shave my head because of sensory issues and burnout, i understand where the anger of being autistic comes from because i am autistic and i’m sure you have experienced that frustration too but autism is also the reason why i love things the way i do, it’s the reason i can get so interested in topics or shows or books. Autism speaks wants to find a cure, most autists don’t want a cure we just want support for traits that make our life really difficult, for some people that would be being able to become verbal, for some that would be being able to have tolerable senses and there are other traits myself and other autists would love support with or some way to be abled to tolerate them with. but again, alleviating those traits isn’t curing autism, because curing autism would change so much about me that i doubt i’d recognise myself because it’s all i’ve ever know, you know? idk that was a little rant like but yeah i just hate the concept of “curing autism” because most autists don’t want that, they want some of their symptoms to be alleviated.

[@noxfox3706]

@@lucysmith271 Something terrible about Autism Speaks is that they have supported "rehabilitation" centers where children were severely abused, sometimes with methods as violent as shocking them repeatedly with electricity each time they behaved in an "inappropriate" way. It could go so bad that children and teenagers died from the abuse. And even the "softer" methods of negative reinforcement caused lasting psychological trauma in survivors. Yes, some non-speaking kids ended up speaking, but it was done through violence and psychologically damaging. These days, being non-speaking is fine for a lot of autists because they might still be able to engage with others thanks to text-to-speech apps, or simply writing what they want to say. Technology is alleviating a lot of our issues. We can form deep friendships online in ways that are much harder to achieve irl. Those of us who however need more of a voice indeed are those who have additional mental disabilities that hinder their ability to communicate their needs. Cultural empathy is what's needed to give everyone the help they need, and given that it's not exactly a trait of capitalism, there's definitely a lot of challenges. But decreasing stigma about neurodiversity is definitely a step in the right direction.

[@gabrom5047]

I believe the negative traits of autism are a result of unintelligent social dominance.

[@stripey7303]

I was diagnosed five years ago at age 57, but had known I was different from early on. In fact my brother tells me that at one point it was thought I might be autistic, but I suppose I wasn't diagnosed because it was defined much more narrowly back then. I learned from this video at least one likely contributing factor: my parents were 34 and 37 when I was born. The diagnosis has helped me understand a lot of aspects of my life better both in retrospect and now.

[@davidsnyder2818]

Being diagnosed as an adult made all of my life’s frustrations finally make sense. I was great at masking through childhood and into my 30s, but when I went to a therapist for the first time, he identified it very quickly.