Mindshift in autism: a call to professionals in research, clinical, and educational settings

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Psychiatry

T. C. Waisman¹  Alana J. McVey²  Brenna B. Maddox³  Desiree R. Jones⁴  Dora M. Raymaker⁵  Christina Nicolaidis⁶ 

[1] Autism Training Academy, Vancouver, BC, Canada;Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States;Seattle Children’s Autism Center, Seattle, WA, United States;Department of Psychiatry, TEACCH Autism Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States;Department of Psychology, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, United States;School of Social Work, Regional Research Institute for Human Services, Portland State University, Portland, OR, United States;School of Social Work, Regional Research Institute for Human Services, Portland State University, Portland, OR, United States;Department of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States;

关键词: autism;    stigma;    discrimination;    neurodiversity;    disability justice;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1251058

 received in 2023-06-30, accepted in 2023-08-16,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Autistic people often have poor outcomes over the life course, including in health, education, employment, and community inclusion. Many professionals working with Autistic adults in research, clinical, and educational settings devote their careers to trying to improve such outcomes. However, we maintain that real progress cannot happen without a fundamental mindshift. The status quo for professionals is to view autism as an illness. Instead, the neurodiversity movement encourages us to value and embrace autism as an aspect of human diversity and asks us to view Autistic people as a marginalized group that experiences significant disparities. While some professionals may be adopting language and concepts from the neurodiversity movement, we argue that making this mindshift fundamentally changes our practice across research, clinical, and educational settings. In this perspective, we call on professionals to embrace this mindshift to reduce discrimination and stigma, halt the spread of harmful ideologies, and help Autistic adults live fulfilling lives.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 McVey, Jones, Waisman, Raymaker, Nicolaidis and Maddox.