This is a smokescreen The crisis isn't the waiting time for a diagnosis (which brings very little other than professional rubberstamping - there is no triggering of magical support) The crisis is systems and society with exclusion, marginalisation, stigma, and othering baked in

Autism and Social Relationships I used to think certain people were my friends, even though the only time they ever communicated with me was when they wanted me to do something for them. It took me a really long time to understand that I wasn't really a friend to them.

“He doesn’t look autistic” My apologies, son perform autism for the lady please.

Jordyn Zimmerman calls for “a more user-centered design approach across the board—where AAC users are not merely participants, but leaders…” Free at doi.org/10.1080/074346… CommunicationFIRST ISAAC National Rehabilitation Information Center NARIC

Autistic people are often infantilized and treated like children. Autistic adults have a hard time accessing services, healthcare, and accommodations because much of society sees autism as a childhood disorder. image: Sensory Stories🌈

Let autistic people stim. If the only issue is that it "looks weird", it's better to look "weird" whilst feeling calmer and more regulated than to look "normal" whilst feeling restrained and battling an inner meltdown

Profound Autism In his letter to the editor on the topic, "In Search of Better Ways to Understand Autism", Jason Jacoby Lee describes how being autistic and incapable of uttering meaningful speech got him labeled as intellectually disabled until he learned to type. Karl Jacoby