However, there is also evidence to suggest that some autistic young people distance themselves from autistic culture (Baines 2012; Huws and Jones 2010) and hold negative perceptions of their differences, along with showing concern for not ‘fitting in’ (Humphrey & Lewis 2008). Carrington and Graham ( 2001) interviewed two autistic adolescents about their experiences and found that they were more aware as they grew older of their ‘differentness’ and they wanted to fit in but did not know how. The emotional stress associated with the need to belong (Baumeister & Leary 1995; Fiske 2009) suggests it may be important for the wellbeing of autistic adolescents to have a positive sense of group belonging. In autistic adults, Cooper et al. ( 2017) conducted a large-scale study that measured self-esteem, depression, anxiety and autism identification. Results indicated that less autism identification related to more anxiety and depression symptoms, which was mediated through increases in collective self-esteem (perceived positivity of autism identity) and personal self-esteem. This finding suggests having a positive autistic social identity might offer a protective mechanism against psychological difficulties for autistic adults. Braverman A. Verbal ability and identity development (Unpublished doctoral dissertation) Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University-Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology; 2016. [ Google Scholar]

Autism, Identity and Me: A Professional and Parent Guide to Autism, Identity and Me: A Professional and Parent Guide to

As you would expect from a practitioner of Rebecca’s stature, this book is empowering and accessible and sensitively covers a huge range of situations and scenarios faced by autistic children in a manner that will guide them in their growing up. Thoroughly recommended!" – Andrew Whitehouse, SEND Consultant Baumeister RF, Leary MR. The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin. 1995; 117(3):497. [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] But I beg anyone who identifies themselves, or whom identifies a child as ‘with’ or ‘having’ Autism to please look at the bigger picture, look at the industry, discover the history. Recognise the complete shambles that we live under and try to understand the connotations and negativity that derives from this language. Why is it that nearly a century later we’re hanging off the words of some who was, if you take the views of the Autistic community, actually very wrong in their description of Autism? Hearing voices of autistic children throughout the book gives a unique insight that can only be gained from listening to those with lived experience. Rebecca's passion for supporting autistic young people is clear throughout, which has resulted in a book which allows autistic young people a chance to positively own their identity." – Dr Jenna Kenyani , Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing Adviser, University of LiverpoolThe third thing is that more and more Autistic people need to be encouraged and taught to embrace who they are. With Autism, the knowledge, understanding and even ability to provide supportive services is just not there. There is no adequate support for Parents. So they turn to the only salvation they have: The wealth of ‘treatments’, ‘therapies’ and ‘cures’ all offering ways to ‘fix the problem’ Shifting from a deficit model to a difference one, changing from viewing difference as something which is negative to something which should be celebrated, re-frames the whole way of thinking towards it. Automatically, the view of needing ways to change and normalise are shifted towards thinking about ways to support and offer equity. The TST (Kuhn & McPartland 1954) is a measure used to assess how individuals define themselves using their own words. The task requires participants to respond to the question ‘Who am I?’ by writing down up to 20 statements beginning with “I am”, in a way that best defines their identity (e.g. ‘I am a thrill-seeker’, ‘I am autistic’). Each response was coded according to a coding scheme used by Rhee et al. ( 1995), which provided three separate scores for each participant: identity strength, identity complexity and identity quality. Identity strength was the total number of statements produced, up to a maximum of 20. Identity complexity was the number of different categories produced, out of a possible seven (social identity, physical descriptions, personal identity, personal qualities, interests and activities, relationships and environment). Identity quality was the proportion of specific items (i.e. qualified with some specific detail; e.g. ‘I am a brother’) divided by the total number of items reported. Marcia’s ( 1980) identity theory posits that well-developed identity comprises of a sense of one’s strengths and weaknesses (captured by identity strength and complexity scores), and one’s individual uniqueness (captured by identity quality score), therefore all three scores were included in the analysis to capture personal identity. Ultimately it’s usually those with the best intentions that do the most harm, particularly to those we care about. The negative narrative and the history of Autism

Autism, Identity and Me : Rebecca Duffus (author Autism, Identity and Me : Rebecca Duffus (author

On a side note the DVLA were told to make that move by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom.More uninformed power.) A life under constant assault Similarly with all marginalised and minority groups – it’s the fact that you are marginalised and a minority that makes your identity even more important.There is little evidence on how autistic people navigate their identity in terms of acculturation to autistic culture. Kenny et al. ( 2016) found that most autistic adults and their families preferred identity-first terminology (‘autistic’) to person-first terminology (‘person with autism’), as they stated that autism forms an integral part of the person. The neurodiversity movement advocates self-identification as autistic and viewing autism as a positive identity that needs no cure (Chamak et al. 2008; Ortega 2009). Qualitative evidence suggests that some autistic adolescents take pride in being autistic (Cage et al. 2016), and some view autism as part of ‘who they were’, and they had come to accept their differences (Humphrey & Lewis 2008). This is the entirety of the human brain. So now do you see why we say we’re Autistic from our heads to our toes? Our whole neurology, all our cognitive processes, our senses, the way messages are deciphered and sent from every part of our body to the cerebellum, the control centre, are all shaped and formed by Autism. Findings of the current study suggested that those who aligned only to non-autistic culture (assimilated) tended to generate more positive statements about themselves than those who aligned to neither culture. Marcia’s ( 1980) identity status theory could be used to explain such findings, whereby commitment refers to the degree of personal investment the individual expresses towards a certain identity (Kroger & Marcia 2011). Those in the separated or assimilated groups may have explored and committed to an identity, whereas those in the bicultural or marginalised groups (alignment to both or neither culture) may not yet have achieved strong commitment and thus an established sense of identity. Minority group research (e.g. Phinney 2003) supports this proposition, showing that exploring and committing to an ethnic identity can serve a protective role for individuals’ self-esteem; individuals who have explored and resolved issues pertaining to the group they identify with may feel more confident and have the tools to discuss issues regarding their group identity.

I am autistic card - National Autistic Society I am autistic card - National Autistic Society

All of that is the ‘medicalised’ view of Autism using and driving research to reinforce Autism as a medical thing. To keep control of it. Among diagnosed children though, a really common thing to hear from parents is that: “I don’t want my child defined by their Autism.” In this world it can feel like we have nothing to offer to make things better. Like many bad things are happening that are outside of our control. But if we know we are autistic, we have something pretty world changing to offer, simply by living without shame. Fiske ST. Social beings: Core motives in social psychology. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons; 2009. [ Google Scholar] Recently I’ve become a bit jaded toward it and that’s mostly because nearly every time I see a tweet by an Autistic person, I see a non-Autistic person jump on it saying things to the effect of:

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Autism DOES define us, because we ARE Autistic. As much as our sexuality defines us, our skin colour, our ailments, our jobs, our traumas, our moments of elation; every aspect of our lives define us. When I talk about the Neurodiversity paradigm, some people get confused and assume that switching focus from deficits to positivity and difference means that disabilities are denied. This is not the case at all, as presented by Emily Paige Ballou, in her article in The Thinking Person’s guide to Autism: “What the Neurodiversity Movement does – and doesn’t – offer” HEFCW – HEFCW wishes to develop and sustain internationally excellent higher education in Wales, for the benefit of individuals, society and the economy, in Wales and more widely.