Pathologising Autism

I have intentionally used the British spelling for the subject of this post, because it is used in the URL for the webpage. It seems that when a child is labeled autistic, behaviors which would be regarded as normal and even commendable in a neurotypical child are labeled as pathological. This is of interest to me, partly because I have a dash of general skepticism about pshrinks, and partly because, if I had been born a few decades later, I would very likely have been declared autistic. In my salad days, though, “autistic” seems to have been used principally to describe children who were non-verbal, or otherwise incapable of ordinary human functioning.

The laundry should be dry quite soon. Then I’ll go to bed.