I believe untraumatized Autistic people exist, though many are likely undiagnosed because the diagnostic manuals used to determine if a person is Autistic is a weakness model - based on Autistic people in distress.
No good can come of grouping people ONLY by their weaknesses.
No good can come of grouping people ONLY by their weaknesses.
https://twitter.com/NeuroRebel/status/1319675613687484417
So the medical gatekeepers, who Autistic people rely on in order to receive the diagnosis, tend to be very unaware of what Autistic people in good mental health even look like.
Because all they talk about is our weaknesses. They've never bothered to care about what success can look like in Autistic people.
That means until an Autistic person either has new demands in life that they can’t keep up with or loses one or more of their supports they may not be diagnosed.
Then, when life gets hard and they can’t keep up with what’s expected of them, only then do these Autistic people, who may have otherwise been missed because of the way the medical model identifies autism, might then be discovered.
It doesn't help that society tends to diminish Autistic people when we try to explain our needs or our experiences...
Even the unintentional dismissals: “You’re too sensitive" or “You just need to try harder"
People fail to see or understand our experience of the world.
Even the unintentional dismissals: “You’re too sensitive" or “You just need to try harder"
People fail to see or understand our experience of the world.
Eventually, after being hearing these types of comments over and over again, we may learn not to trust ourselves.
@threadreaderapp - unroll, please
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