"Why is our health secretary picking over the number of diagnoses, when he could be focusing on why our systems of work, education and care are still so closed off to the people who get them?"

The ever-excellent John Harris dissects the nasty "overdiagnosis" trope, currently promoted by Wes Streeting and our nightmare Labour government. His style is calm and balanced, but I can feel the underlying rage.

John Harris is a good man.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/07/adhd-autism-overdiagnosis-wes-streeting

#autism #ADHD #overdiagnosis #WesStreeting #UKpol #Labour #JohnHarris

"Why is our health secretary picking over the number of diagnoses, when he could be focusing on why our systems of work, education and care are still so closed off to the people who get them?"

The ever-excellent John Harris dissects the nasty "overdiagnosis" trope, currently promoted by Wes Streeting and our nightmare Labour government. His style is calm and balanced, but I can feel the underlying rage.

John Harris is a good man.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/07/adhd-autism-overdiagnosis-wes-streeting

#autism #ADHD #overdiagnosis #WesStreeting #UKpol #Labour #JohnHarris

I am doing a more in-depth follow up to my 2024 survey into Autistic Language Preferences.

Please could you take some time to do this survey and help me build a robust data set?

https://forms.gle/AZdHomZDnHBLj5sZ6

#ActuallyAutistic #autism #AutismLanguage #AutisticRights #Autistic @actuallyautistic @autisticadvocacy

Autism's Confusing Cousins

https://www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/autisms-confusing-cousins

#HackerNews #Autism #Awareness #Autism #Research #Mental #Health #Neurodiversity #Family #Dynamics

Autism should not be treated as a single condition

https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/12/03/why-autism-should-not-be-treated-as-a-single-condition

#HackerNews #Autism #Awareness #Autism #Spectrum #Neurodiversity #Mental #Health #Research #Insights

I am doing a more in-depth follow up to my 2024 survey into Autistic Language Preferences.

Please could you take some time to do this survey and help me build a robust data set?

https://forms.gle/AZdHomZDnHBLj5sZ6

#ActuallyAutistic #autism #AutismLanguage #AutisticRights #Autistic @actuallyautistic @autisticadvocacy

@EUCommission Please include those people with Autistic Spectrum Personalities (ASP) who, while they might not need a white stick, a wheel chair or crutches do need safe, private digital spaces.

ASPs who regard the scanning (voluntary or not) of all of their chats, photos, videos as a gross violation of their rights to be a private person and as an imposition upon their sense of self.

Please stop causing stress to people who just want to remain private people.

#digitalomnibus #autism #asp

My #introduction needs a refresh.

I'm a #PhD student at the University of #Vermont, studying the #Evolution of #Evolvability. I'm into #AI, #ALife, #Biology, and #Philosophy, because I want to understand #life, #adaptation, and #intelligence using my native language of #ComputerScience. I share my musings and #research on my #blog. I love #science generally, and am full of bitchy #AcademicChatter.

I was a #SoftwareEngineer in #SiliconValley for many years, but left in 2021. I'm glad I did, and now I feel a bit betrayed by the #TechIndustry. I've been going back to my #FOSS roots, and gradually #DeGoogle ing my life. I still love to talk about #code #craft, #UX, and healthy #engineering #culture. Recently I've been enjoying #gpu #programming, mostly in #taichilang.

I have a wife and a #cat. I love #nature, #photography, #cooking, and #yoga.

All kinds of people are valid and worthy, but #trans people, folks on the #autism spectrum, and #bipoc get a shout out right now because they need our support.

A Harvard study found that the children of women who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant may be at an increased risk for autism and other neurodevelopmental diagnoses, raising new concerns about the CDC’s decision to stop recommending the vaccine to pregnant women.
https://www.propublica.org/article/covid-pregnancy-risk-autism-study-cdc?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Science #Research #Health #COVID #Vaccines #Women #Autism

"What do you have to be anxious about?"

Image from Neurodivergent Memes on FB 🙏

#Neurodivergent #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #SocialAnxiety #Anxiety

The West Coast Health Alliance continues to strongly recommend vaccines to protect our children, noting that rigorous research of millions of people in multiple countries over decades provides high quality evidence that #vaccines are not linked to #autism. The Alliance is deeply concerned about inaccurate claims to the contrary recently posted on the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

https://doh.wa.gov/newsroom/west-coast-health-alliance-stands-scientific-evidence-vaccines-are-not-linked-autism

My #introduction needs a refresh.

I'm a #PhD student at the University of #Vermont, studying the #Evolution of #Evolvability. I'm into #AI, #ALife, #Biology, and #Philosophy, because I want to understand #life, #adaptation, and #intelligence using my native language of #ComputerScience. I share my musings and #research on my #blog. I love #science generally, and am full of bitchy #AcademicChatter.

I was a #SoftwareEngineer in #SiliconValley for many years, but left in 2021. I'm glad I did, and now I feel a bit betrayed by the #TechIndustry. I've been going back to my #FOSS roots, and gradually #DeGoogle ing my life. I still love to talk about #code #craft, #UX, and healthy #engineering #culture. Recently I've been enjoying #gpu #programming, mostly in #taichilang.

I have a wife and a #cat. I love #nature, #photography, #cooking, and #yoga.

All kinds of people are valid and worthy, but #trans people, folks on the #autism spectrum, and #bipoc get a shout out right now because they need our support.

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) reaffirms that vaccines are a proven, essential tool for protecting people’s health. We join health agencies and associations across the country, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Autism Science Foundation, in confirming that there is no credible scientific evidence linking #vaccines to #autism.

https://doh.wa.gov/newsroom/washington-state-department-health-statement-vaccine-safety-and-autism-claims

@autistics

Three years ago, I hesitantly signed up on my first instance on Fedi and staggered out onto the social media stage for the first time in my life. Why I chose Mastodon for this, is more of a why not, than a why. It was during the great Twitter wave and I'd read a few things about it and it seemed like a good a place as any.

The first thing I did was search the hashtags (even I knew to do that) for my autistic brethren. From that day to this, I have not been disappointed in what I found. Either in the welcome, or the sense of community. Or even, possibly, that I've never come across a bigger bunch of weirdos, misfits and malcontents in all my life (😆) And yet you have all found a place in my heart.

I have learnt and grown so much by being here and continue to learn and broaden my understanding of not just autism, but so much else because of you all. For this and for so much more, I cannot thank you all enough. All of you who make up the Fediverse and who make this such a special place.

#Fediversary
#Autism
#ActuallyAutistic

The official CDC website on autism and vaccines is now a screed of cherry-picked data and conspiratorial thinking claiming that actually #vaccines *might* cause #autism.

This is where we’re at folks…

The West Coast Health Alliance continues to strongly recommend vaccines to protect our children, noting that rigorous research of millions of people in multiple countries over decades provides high quality evidence that #vaccines are not linked to #autism. The Alliance is deeply concerned about inaccurate claims to the contrary recently posted on the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

https://doh.wa.gov/newsroom/west-coast-health-alliance-stands-scientific-evidence-vaccines-are-not-linked-autism

"What do you have to be anxious about?"

Image from Neurodivergent Memes on FB 🙏

#Neurodivergent #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #SocialAnxiety #Anxiety