I have been reviewing some of my resources and, interestingly, I have started to feel a bit uncomfortable about some of the things I have previously talked about! It is amazing how time can change perspective. At the moment, the thing I'm feeling most uncomfortable about is the clear divide/separation between autistic and neurotypical people that I have often created.
I have purposely had to emphasise this divide in order to teach people about the autistic experiences, but the divide is much less obvious in the real world. In my work, for the purposes of teaching, I've tried to say, "this is the autistic way" and "this is the neurotypical way." But in the real world there is often no straightforward "autistic way" and no straightforward "neurotypical way." You can't 100% say, "Alis does this because she is autistic", and you can't say "John does this because he's neurotypical." Alis might well do that because she is Alis, and John might do that because he is John.
Also, behaviours we observe on the outside are not always accurate representations of what's on the inside. Just because Katie appears "neurotypical," on the outside, it does not mean she is. You cannot easily tell whether someone is neurotypical or autistic. A lot of people put on an act when they are in public.
Also, many people have autistic traits but do not have autism.
