Just like gay folks in the 1960s didn't need doctors to tell them they were gay (though many doctors were offering*), I don't need anyone to pathologize me as “disordered” for me to know I'm Autistic.
Self-identification gives me access to countless resources that I've been applying to my life with great benefit since 2021. You can find some listed in My Autism Starter Pack.
*The medical standard directory of all known psychological ailments, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), lists Autism officially as "Autism Spectrum Disorder." This damaging and unwise guidance is reminiscent of another mischaracterization. Until 1974, when my parents were in their 20s, the DSM classified homosexuality as a mental disorder, changing it only in the seventh printing of the DSM-II. Homosexuality is not a disorder, of course. It's a difforder, just like Autism.
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READ NEXT: ASD: A Redefinition.
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