IronWarrir2400

Great question. The most common one I would like to dispel is that autism is something that only affects white, middle-class, adolescent males. Much of the early research only focused on them. Leo Kanner, who published the first widely-read study on autism in the U.S., only included three girls compared to eight boys in his first study in 1943. Similarly, nine of them were Anglo-Saxon and two were Jewish. That means a lot of our ideas of what autism looks like are based on what it looks like in those groups. It means we often don't recognize autism in children of color or in girls. Or that they get diagnosed later or misdiagnosed.

Good question and an important question. So I didn't really disclose my status until I was in my mid-20s and I wrote this piece. I wanted to be judged on my work. I'm sure it has probably excluded me from some potential jobs but the upside is that it weeds out people who wouldn't be accommodating. For the most part, my bosses have been pretty accepting. At the same time, I don't begrudge anyone who doesn't. One woman I interview in the book said she has almost always regretted disclosing and I understand that. It makes things more complicated. Really the best thing I can say about disclosing is that you should look at how welcoming an employer is to other groups like people in wheelchairs or women, or people of color

I actually find them hilarious and I am in a group chat called "The Michael Falk Society"

Great question. Laura James's book Odd Girl Out is good. Sara Gibbs' book Drama Queen just came out and it's a delight. I'd also recommend Steve Silberman's Neurotribes and reading the website the Thinking Person's Guide to Autism.

I get people not wanting to let go of it. I am also Mexican-American and I get how some people don't want to let go of terms like "Hispanic" or move toward terms like "Latinx" because they feel those distinct identities mean something. At the same time, I think that terms like Asperger's tend to erase the legitimate needs they have. Also, this is to say nothing of Hans Asperger's role in Nazi-occupied Vienna, which we have discovered more about.