“I think this speaks to the improved understanding of autism and autistic people among elected officials. Ten years ago, politicians talking about autism diagnoses usually framed autism as a recent epidemic,” Ari Ne’eman, who served as one of former President Obama’s appointees to the National Council on Disability and previously served as president of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, told The Hill.
We are not an epidemic. There is a much improved understanding of autistic people but the world has a long way to go. There has been a vast improvement. President Obama set the precedent of having an autistic advocating for us.
“Now, we’re seeing discussions that recognize that we’ve always existed and are now being recognized more than before as stigma goes down and diagnostic tools improve,” he added.
I have nothing to add to this. Beautifully said.
“It’s refreshing to hear a prominent politician talk about the real reasons behind the recent increase in estimates of autism prevalence, rather than terrifying parents about a non-existent ‘autism epidemic,” Steve Silberman, author of “NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity,” told The Hill.
Finally there is a positive autistic voice. This is needed very badly.
“The definition of autism has radically changed in the past couple of decades, and become much broader and more inclusive, which means that more autistic people and their families can access services,” Silberman added.
The autistic community is inclusive. This is what neurodiversity stands for. We need better accessibility to services so we can contribute more to society.
“For most of the 20th Century, autism was mistakenly considered very rare, but now we understand that in fact it’s extremely common, and has been historically underestimated particularly among women and people of color. That’s what Buttigieg means about autistic people ‘coming out of the shadows,’ and that’s good news.”
Now that more is known, we now know being autistic is not rare. We are coming out of the preverbial closet. We are being heard and we will continue to be heard. Reading this article was a refreshing change from the usual hate. Thank you for putting this out.
original article :https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/461793-buttigieg-increase-in-autism-diagnoses-due-to-more-people-coming-out-of-the?fbclid=IwAR1Kux7zTfKWewFoC1Aq3pYvfy3Xa2FNyNI4_PvaRN9P0S2m5a-EU0JzqE0