"My 40 years of life experience did not suddenly shift because of diagnostic criteria. Rather, autism explained decades of bullying & relationship abuse—and also my accomplishments." @krpgryal.bsky.social, on journalists second-guessing autistics' diagnoses.
katieroseguestpryal.com/2024/06/21/d...
I had a similar experience with diagnosis at 40. I got so much aggro ever since I remember for the troubles I had that I stopped trying to ask for accommodations. After diagnosis I felt like I could at least try and also looked back on life as it was.
Researchers on autism have found that autistics who self-diagnose are practically statistically indistinguishable from autistics with official diagnoses.
There will always be people who misidentify out of a need for belonging– in any category. That doesn’t mean there are no categories.
And Pryal makes an excellent point re: unmasking.
Reading just that article, it sounds like Singh is repeating the tired argument that mental health diagnoses rely on the Barnum effect.
Perennial response: DSM criteria are intended and revised to be precise enough to apply consistently to *specific* cohorts.
Some of Singh points can be true. But not always. The brain is plastic, even when differentially developed in utero. There is no exact set trajectory even after birth. Society decides what is normal & not. But it’s a rare neurotypical that can really understand a ND person. Singh is not one of them
