slate "journalist" diagnoses herself as autistic

[Anonymous]

Who are you, Donald Trump? Putting someone 's job title in quotes doesn't make them less of a journalist.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I can't get worked about this. If you self-identify as an adult, then you get to decide for yourself what to say about it and what services you want/need. Whatever she is doing seems to work for her, so good for her. She beat the odds. It's not the same as being a parent trying to make sure your kid can be in a good place 20 years from now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If you have never needed therapy, you don’t have clinical depression, and if you wrote a dramatic blog post all about your clinical depression I would think you were a twit.

You don’t have to feel the same way I do. Part of this is specifically about Nicole Cliff’s position as a Twitter personality in the cancel-culture millieau, and I truly don’t want autism research and treatment mixed up with that nonsense.

Oh, so it's "spectrum" that you don't understand.

The diagnostic criteria for depression, as for autism, layer out into levels of severity. Some can be lived with or dealt with without professional help, although it is a challenge.

PP, not all clinical depression is a "major depressive episode." Not all autism is expressed at the severe end of the spectrum. If you can't admit that, then it is you who is unprofessional and unscientific, because you are going off on your own with that outdated perspective.

Even at Level 1, true ASD has a profound impact:


Level 1 autism:
https://www.healthline.com/health/levels-of-autism#level-autism

People with level 1 autism have noticeable issues with communication skills and socializing with others. They can usually have a conversation, but it might be difficult to maintain a back-and-forth banter.

Others at this level might find it hard to reach out and make new friends. According to the DSM-5, people who receive a diagnosis of level 1 autism require support.

Symptoms
decreased interest in social interactions or activities
difficulty initiating social interactions, such as talking to a person
ability to engage with a person but may struggle to maintain a give-and-take of a typical conversation
obvious signs of communication difficulty
trouble adapting to changes in routine or behavior
difficulty planning and organizing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, I can't get worked about this. If you self-identify as an adult, then you get to decide for yourself what to say about it and what services you want/need. Whatever she is doing seems to work for her, so good for her. She beat the odds. It's not the same as being a parent trying to make sure your kid can be in a good place 20 years from now.

There's no crystal ball but she shows that a child who struggled can grow up and be a functional human being. This is reassuring to me as a parent, not offensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If you have never needed therapy, you don’t have clinical depression, and if you wrote a dramatic blog post all about your clinical depression I would think you were a twit.

You don’t have to feel the same way I do. Part of this is specifically about Nicole Cliff’s position as a Twitter personality in the cancel-culture millieau, and I truly don’t want autism research and treatment mixed up with that nonsense.

Oh, so it's "spectrum" that you don't understand.

The diagnostic criteria for depression, as for autism, layer out into levels of severity. Some can be lived with or dealt with without professional help, although it is a challenge.

PP, not all clinical depression is a "major depressive episode." Not all autism is expressed at the severe end of the spectrum. If you can't admit that, then it is you who is unprofessional and unscientific, because you are going off on your own with that outdated perspective.

Even at Level 1, true ASD has a profound impact:


Level 1 autism:
https://www.healthline.com/health/levels-of-autism#level-autism

People with level 1 autism have noticeable issues with communication skills and socializing with others. They can usually have a conversation, but it might be difficult to maintain a back-and-forth banter.

Others at this level might find it hard to reach out and make new friends. According to the DSM-5, people who receive a diagnosis of level 1 autism require support.

Symptoms
decreased interest in social interactions or activities
difficulty initiating social interactions, such as talking to a person
ability to engage with a person but may struggle to maintain a give-and-take of a typical conversation
obvious signs of communication difficulty
trouble adapting to changes in routine or behavior
difficulty planning and organizing

My kid has all this at level 1 but probably would not have gotten a diagnosis in the 90s. Nonetheless, as a parent I would have recognized her struggles and tried to help her through with whatever professional or personal resources I could muster. If she managed to succeed as a adult, I could her imagine her much like Nicole Cliffe.

I do know adults with undiagnosed mental health conditions who nonetheless have jobs and families. They struggle, but they survive. For successful ASD adults, it's not even clear what kind of services they might need beyond whatever they've figured out for themselves. Doesn't mean they don't have ASD. And of course, just because Cliffe thinks she has ASD doesn't mean we have to take her at her word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, I can't get worked about this. If you self-identify as an adult, then you get to decide for yourself what to say about it and what services you want/need. Whatever she is doing seems to work for her, so good for her. She beat the odds. It's not the same as being a parent trying to make sure your kid can be in a good place 20 years from now.

There's no crystal ball but she shows that a child who struggled can grow up and be a functional human being. This is reassuring to me as a parent, not offensive.

I'm the PP and I agree.

[Anonymous]

OP is likely a troll or mentally disturbed. He or she has posted repeatedly trying to counter everyone's arguments.


Best to ignore from now on.

[Anonymous]

OP I really don't understand where you're coming from. I think it's common for us with kids with special needs to have a bit of an AHA moment about ourselves when we see our child and their behaviors and how they are perceived. I got a diagnosis as an adult, so I guess yay for me, but on the other hand, I got to my 40s without it so it's not exactly a game changer. Why is it so threatening to you that someone could have these realizations about themselves?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I admit this gave me a bit of an eye-roll. This lady went to Harvard on a full ride, writes and advice column for Slate and various publications, has 3 kids and a husband. And has just self-diagnose herself with autism..

https://nicole.substack.com/p/a-little-bit-autistic-a-little-bit

Ah, Nicole Cliffe. She is a piece of work (although her parenting advice is usually pretty good).

I used to follow her on Twitter (until she inexplicably blocked me). She is incredibly self-absorbed, loves drama, married a rich guy (which she talks about all the time). She's basically a queen bee type for the digital age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I really don't understand where you're coming from. I think it's common for us with kids with special needs to have a bit of an AHA moment about ourselves when we see our child and their behaviors and how they are perceived. I got a diagnosis as an adult, so I guess yay for me, but on the other hand, I got to my 40s without it so it's not exactly a game changer. Why is it so threatening to you that someone could have these realizations about themselves?

I understand OP. There's a lot of resentment in my circles about these "HFA" stories. None of our kids are going to Harvard, getting married, having three kids and a big career.

Our kids will never get the help and reasearch they need when the spectrum is drawn to include all the way out to "typical but quirky.:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I really don't understand where you're coming from. I think it's common for us with kids with special needs to have a bit of an AHA moment about ourselves when we see our child and their behaviors and how they are perceived. I got a diagnosis as an adult, so I guess yay for me, but on the other hand, I got to my 40s without it so it's not exactly a game changer. Why is it so threatening to you that someone could have these realizations about themselves?

I understand OP. There's a lot of resentment in my circles about these "HFA" stories. None of our kids are going to Harvard, getting married, having three kids and a big career.

Our kids will never get the help and reasearch they need when the spectrum is drawn to include all the way out to "typical but quirky.:

Or big basketball players (Kalin Bennett) or behaviorist/authors (Temple Grandin). Success stories are not attacks aimed at your DC. They're just stories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I really don't understand where you're coming from. I think it's common for us with kids with special needs to have a bit of an AHA moment about ourselves when we see our child and their behaviors and how they are perceived. I got a diagnosis as an adult, so I guess yay for me, but on the other hand, I got to my 40s without it so it's not exactly a game changer. Why is it so threatening to you that someone could have these realizations about themselves?

I understand OP. There's a lot of resentment in my circles about these "HFA" stories. None of our kids are going to Harvard, getting married, having three kids and a big career.

Our kids will never get the help and reasearch they need when the spectrum is drawn to include all the way out to "typical but quirky.:

My kid might go to Harvard but she is definitely not "typical but quirky." I don't see how recognizing that it is a broad spectrum is harmful to your kids. When autism was thought to be only a rare and severe condition, there was much less help available and lots of kids were mislabeled as "schizhophrenic" or "mentally retarded."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I really don't understand where you're coming from. I think it's common for us with kids with special needs to have a bit of an AHA moment about ourselves when we see our child and their behaviors and how they are perceived. I got a diagnosis as an adult, so I guess yay for me, but on the other hand, I got to my 40s without it so it's not exactly a game changer. Why is it so threatening to you that someone could have these realizations about themselves?

I understand OP. There's a lot of resentment in my circles about these "HFA" stories. None of our kids are going to Harvard, getting married, having three kids and a big career.

Our kids will never get the help and reasearch they need when the spectrum is drawn to include all the way out to "typical but quirky.:

My kid might go to Harvard but she is definitely not "typical but quirky." I don't see how recognizing that it is a broad spectrum is harmful to your kids. When autism was thought to be only a rare and severe condition, there was much less help available and lots of kids were mislabeled as "schizhophrenic" or "mentally retarded."

Because all the research dollars flow there. They aren't including lower functioning kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I really don't understand where you're coming from. I think it's common for us with kids with special needs to have a bit of an AHA moment about ourselves when we see our child and their behaviors and how they are perceived. I got a diagnosis as an adult, so I guess yay for me, but on the other hand, I got to my 40s without it so it's not exactly a game changer. Why is it so threatening to you that someone could have these realizations about themselves?

I understand OP. There's a lot of resentment in my circles about these "HFA" stories. None of our kids are going to Harvard, getting married, having three kids and a big career.

Our kids will never get the help and reasearch they need when the spectrum is drawn to include all the way out to "typical but quirky.:

My kid might go to Harvard but she is definitely not "typical but quirky." I don't see how recognizing that it is a broad spectrum is harmful to your kids. When autism was thought to be only a rare and severe condition, there was much less help available and lots of kids were mislabeled as "schizhophrenic" or "mentally retarded."

Because all the research dollars flow there. They aren't including lower functioning kids.

Well, I'm sorry for that, but that is not the fault of a diagnosis. Blame the people who make and approve the research proposals. And Congress which doesn't put nearly enough money into autism research, let alone fully fund mental health services for any condition.

[Anonymous]

I don't think any medical provider is going to say that if a someone is still alive without being provided services, that this means they cannot have had autism.

"Needs services" is not a matter of survival. It means that the individual qualifies for services, whether they were provided or not. You can perhaps survive without them, but you should be offered them.