Notices by K.J. Elphinstone (katyelphinstone@mas.to)

Deficit or difference 🧵

Autistic deficit no.10:
Not automatically prioritising appearances.

In the “negative or nothing” model of autism, this is framed as poor social awareness, rather than a refusal to make surface performance more important than deeper things.

11/13

Deficit or difference 🧵

Autistic deficit no.9:
Stimming or moving differently.

In the “negative or nothing” model of autism, this is framed as inappropriate behaviour, rather than as self-regulation.

10/13

Deficit or difference 🧵

Autistic deficit no.11:
Being distressed by injustice, hypocrisy, or coercion.

In the “negative or nothing” model of autism, this is framed as challenging behaviour, rather than an accurate response to something being very wrong.

12/13

Deficit or difference 🧵

Autistic deficit no.8:
Honesty and consistency.

In the “negative or nothing” model of autism, this is framed as bluntness, inflexibility, or lack of tact.

9/13

Deficit or difference 🧵

Autistic deficit no.7:
Emotional or cognitive intensity.

In the “negative or nothing” model of autism, this is framed as dysregulation or maladjustment - rather than a high level of engagement & responsiveness to the world.

8/13

Deficit or difference 🧵

Autistic deficit no.6:
Not performing hierarchy and status games fluently.

In the “negative or nothing” model of autism, this is framed as social naivety, and not as just a different relationship to power.

7/13

Deficit or difference 🧵

Autistic deficit no.4:
Deep focus and commitment.

In the “negative or nothing” model of autism, this is framed as obsession, rather than depth, care, or expertise.

5/13

Deficit or difference 🧵

Autistic deficit no.3:
Needing explicit expectations.

In the “negative or nothing” model of autism, this is framed as rigidity - rather than being unwilling or unable to adhere to invisible, illogical, and/or inconsistent rules.

4/13

Deficit or difference 🧵

Autistic deficit no.5:
Sensory intensity.

In the “negative or nothing” model of autism, this is framed as overreaction, rather than a body receiving a great deal of information.

6/13

Deficit or difference 🧵

Autistic deficit no.2:
Taking words seriously.

In the “negative or nothing” model of autism, this is framed as literal-mindedness, rather than respect for meaning.

3/13

Deficit or difference 🧵

Autistic deficit no.1:
Preferring clear, direct communication.

In the “negative or nothing” model of autism, this is framed as social failure.

2/13

Deficit or difference?

There are a few things about autism that it takes quite a lot of ingenuity to consistently frame them as negative.

I've listed some of them here...

A thread 🧵

⬇️

#Autism #Neurodiversity #Neurodivergent #ActuallyAutistic

1/13

Here are the references for this thread:

https://www.neurofabulous.org.uk/refs-for-epistemic-injustice-thread.html

If autistic people are saying ‘this is part of who I am’ and the response is to continue to fund ways to reduce and eliminate autism, while making very sure our voices are not heard.

That isn’t neutral.
It's chilling. 😨

11/11

End of 🧵

Refs in link below 👇

Which brings us back to those questions:

1/ Whose problem is autism being treated as?
2/ And whose interests are being served by that?

And...

3/ What kind of future is being imagined??

10/11

Now let's talk about money. 🤑

As there are entire systems that depend on autism being framed as problem, burden... and opportunity.

Research funding,
Intervention markets (bring in health insurance, and there are millions to be made!),
Training pipelines,
Investment markets.

8/11

There is, quite literally, an Autism Investor Summit – where autism services are discussed in terms of market growth and M&A.

So yes.

Autism is also a business model.
(refs at the end)

9/11

So what could ethical research look like, instead?

Here's the proposed researchers’ code of ethics:

1. Co-participation,
2. Respectful language,
3. Autistic differences not always as deficits,
4. No alignment with those promoting ABA, eugenics, and similar harms.

Far from today's reality.

7/11

Thanks @panda for this! And your work is in the references.

Then, as we’re not listened to, society's understanding of autism develops without us.🤷🏽♀️

That flawed understanding is then used to overrule us, again.

Strange little loop. ➰

6/11

#EpistemicInjustice #Autism #AutismResearch

Because a ‘world without autism’ isn't abstract.
It's a world without autistic people. 🙎🏽♀️🙎🏾🙎🏻♀️

There’s also a deeper issue here.

Autistic people aren't believed about our own experiences. Or we don't get asked at all.

#UtaFrith said it would be unscientific to do so. More on her views here: https://mas.to/@KatyElphinstone/116206483353899881

5/11