Being visibly autistic is not, in fact, an emergency. In a university environment, I have had professors or administrators become very concerned when I rocked, flapped, didn't make eye contact, needed to type instead of talk, or even just disclosed that I'm autistic. A friend of mine got into trouble because a rock climbing teacher saw her flap her hand. That sort of reaction doesn’t help anyone, especially once you consider that we might be doing the characteristically and visibly autistic thing in order to be more able to work on our actual priorities, like classwork or research.
Talking about specific needs is helpful. Terms like "high functioning" aren't. Calling someone "high functioning" will lead to missing some of their needs. Calling someone "low functioning" will lead to missing some of their abilities. It's best to drop the ineffective shorthand and talk about whatever needs abilities are relevant at the moment. If you mean that someone needs to type to communicate some or all of the time, say that. If you mean that someone is able to live alone with the proper support, say that. If you mean that someone needs help getting food, say that
Friday, April 20, 2018
Autism in Grad School
In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the growing number of college students on the spectrum.
