This was originally one of my first posts and images I shared on my Facebook page last year. I thought I would publish it here as well given how important this is to understanding and supporting Autistic people.
One of my guiding principles is that we can only thrive as Autistic people. Changing us to fit neurotypical norms is extremely harmful and needs to be avoided at all costs. This includes the following:
Social skills training which ignores Autistic people’s own set of social skills and communication styles.
Exposure therapy that tries to “desensitise” sensory needs.
Teaching Autistic people to have “whole body listening” and not stim.
Expecting everyone to have the same levels of productivity and making this a measure of self-worth.
Behaviour therapies (such as ABA ‘Applied Behaviour Analysis’) which discourage Autistic traits and promote compliance.
All of these only lead to further masking and trauma for Autistic people. It removes our autonomy and fills us with deeper shame. Our neurology is impossible to change and nor does it need to be changed. Instead of this, we need to allow Autistic people to explore Autistic culture and connect to fellow peers as this has far greater outcomes for our wellbeing than meeting neuronormative standards ever will.
We can only thrive as ourselves and Autistic people deserve to express and embody who we are.
Image description: Background image of a wheat field with a brown, white and grey aesthetic. Black text with Aleo Light font in the centre that reads “Autistic people can only thrive as Autistic people, not as forced neurotypicals.” At the top left corner is the green & blue infinity symbol on a gold background for the “Autistically Scott” logo.
Autistically Scott 
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