Thanks for speaking to the nuance. I’m not sure what autistic person doesn’t also have fear of being perceived, or rejected due to past histories based on being misunderstood (because of their autism). Kind of in that c-ptsd category. I agree, hard to clarify, a sticky discernment in diagnosis. I think I lean towards diagnosing the more all-encompassing primary diagnosis of autism, knowing that some (many?) other diagnosis will likely be captured within/under the primary diagnosis of autism. For example, isn’t social anxiety one potential option of how autism will present? A symptom of autism? How often will we see pure social anxiety without other autistic traits also included? With expanded ND lenses will that occur?
Yes ... are thinking seems very aligned here. I'd lean to first diagnosing the autism -- helping the person understand 1) Sensory overwhelm and how to build in sensory supports 2) the stress and anxiety around masking and scripting and small talk 3) the dynamics of cross-neurotype interactions. And then if after that the person felt like they still were struggling to build the life they wanted (wanted to socialize but anxiety blocking them), at that point I think it would make sense to diagnose social anxiety. But again -- I really believe in the collaborative process as in the person would feel this was a helpful lens and area to target in treatment.
This was SUCH a helpful video--I am actually going to share this with my therapist so we can talk through this stuff together.
Also, I'm realizing that I feel a ton of grief and anger about how messily intertwined these things are. For the first 3+ decades of my life (before the word "autism" was ever mentioned), I just read myself as scared, fearful, insecure, and traumatized. I think all these things were, and are, true about me, BUT what I'm starting to realize is that it feels like a form of self-gaslighting to have been looking at those things *without* this additional context of autism. (Am I making sense?)
So now I'm just so desperate to see where the one ends and the other begins. Because I know, on some neutral level, there are social experiences I just prefer not to have, or that simply take so much bandwidth from me. Yet at the same time, I find myself in those exact situations you describe, where I want to do something so badly but feel like I can't.
Thanks for this--and I'm totally supportive of you doing more videos like this!! :)
Thank you for the delicate breakdown! I really appreciate this video style—it was clear and gave space for personal reflection. I'll be exploring the ideas of value consistency and proportionality more deeply. These concepts are so different for everyone, yet it's so important to have a handle on them.
Yes exactly. The proportionality just gets so tricky when there are marginalized identities in the mix (and who is to say what is proportionality). Which is where I think the values you are so important -- because then the person gets to decide "yup this thing is making it hard for me to move toward what matters to me." or "nope, i'm actually okay with the life I'm building."
Thanks for speaking to the nuance. I’m not sure what autistic person doesn’t also have fear of being perceived, or rejected due to past histories based on being misunderstood (because of their autism). Kind of in that c-ptsd category. I agree, hard to clarify, a sticky discernment in diagnosis. I think I lean towards diagnosing the more all-encompassing primary diagnosis of autism, knowing that some (many?) other diagnosis will likely be captured within/under the primary diagnosis of autism. For example, isn’t social anxiety one potential option of how autism will present? A symptom of autism? How often will we see pure social anxiety without other autistic traits also included? With expanded ND lenses will that occur?
Yes ... are thinking seems very aligned here. I'd lean to first diagnosing the autism -- helping the person understand 1) Sensory overwhelm and how to build in sensory supports 2) the stress and anxiety around masking and scripting and small talk 3) the dynamics of cross-neurotype interactions. And then if after that the person felt like they still were struggling to build the life they wanted (wanted to socialize but anxiety blocking them), at that point I think it would make sense to diagnose social anxiety. But again -- I really believe in the collaborative process as in the person would feel this was a helpful lens and area to target in treatment.
Do you think social anxiety as a stand alone diagnosis will exist as we continue to expand autistic understanding?
This was SUCH a helpful video--I am actually going to share this with my therapist so we can talk through this stuff together.
Also, I'm realizing that I feel a ton of grief and anger about how messily intertwined these things are. For the first 3+ decades of my life (before the word "autism" was ever mentioned), I just read myself as scared, fearful, insecure, and traumatized. I think all these things were, and are, true about me, BUT what I'm starting to realize is that it feels like a form of self-gaslighting to have been looking at those things *without* this additional context of autism. (Am I making sense?)
So now I'm just so desperate to see where the one ends and the other begins. Because I know, on some neutral level, there are social experiences I just prefer not to have, or that simply take so much bandwidth from me. Yet at the same time, I find myself in those exact situations you describe, where I want to do something so badly but feel like I can't.
Thanks for this--and I'm totally supportive of you doing more videos like this!! :)
Thank you for the delicate breakdown! I really appreciate this video style—it was clear and gave space for personal reflection. I'll be exploring the ideas of value consistency and proportionality more deeply. These concepts are so different for everyone, yet it's so important to have a handle on them.
Yes exactly. The proportionality just gets so tricky when there are marginalized identities in the mix (and who is to say what is proportionality). Which is where I think the values you are so important -- because then the person gets to decide "yup this thing is making it hard for me to move toward what matters to me." or "nope, i'm actually okay with the life I'm building."