Autism and Neurodiversity: A Community Perspective

Recently diagnosed? Gathered here are online resources you can use to read up on autism from an autistic perspective.

I was diagnosed with autism at the age of 30.

Actually, I was diagnosed with terms I don’t use anymore, like Aspergers, high-functioning autism and giftedness. I found an autistic community on Twitter and updated my profile with all of the above. Eventually, someone took the time to DM me.

“Why do you use those words?” she asked gently.

“They’re what I was told?” I replied.

She shared with me that many autistic people had rejected the use of those terms.

It hadn’t yet occurred to me that there was a narrative for autism beyond how doctors and researchers described it; that autistic people, themselves, might have created a body of work on it.

Here are links to resources I’ve reviewed and found reliable. If you have any concerns or want something added, please share in a comment.

Why many autistic people don’t identify as Aspergers

• National Autistic Society:
• Healthline:

Why many autistic people don’t use functioning labels (ex. “high support needs” or “low support needs”