Many people with autism, especially some with High Functioning Autism HFA/Aspergers have expressed concerns about therapy for children which prioritizes changing the child’s behaviour to mimic or fit ‘neurotypical norms’ – that is, the norms that apply to usual, non-autistic people.
Which is not to argue against early detection and intervention directed towards improving language, adaptive behaviour, daily living skills, functional communication skills.
Geraldine Dawson, writing in JAMA Pediatrics*, quotes studies which showed “good” outcomes for individual people whether the adults ‘lost’ an autism diagnosis, or gained or retained the diagnosis. Indeed, many people with HFA have found that understanding and learning to live with the diagnosis has been liberating without other intervention. And she points to observations that sometimes ‘masking or camouflaging autistic traits has been associated with higher rates of mental health conditions’. Dawson emphasizes that there is an argument for parents and others sometimes to find ways to work with and live with some features of autism spectrum disorders rather than trying to suppress them. That is, sometimes we need to accept and not stigmatise rather than remove the behaviours.
Dawson argues for a ‘strength based approach’, ‘encouraging autistic strengths’ and teaching self-advocacy skills’, ‘the promotion of a diversity of adaptive skills and traits that will lead to a fulfilling life as an autistic individual’.
As usual I recommend reading the original article. It is much more nuanced than I have written here. You could also read the more accessible summary and commentary in Scientific American by Claudia Wallis**.
** Autism Treatment Shifts Away from ‘Fixing’ the Condition – Scientific American December 2022 issue.
*At A Crossroads-Reconsidering the Goals of Autism Early Behavioral Intervention From a Neurodiversity Perspective JAMA Pediatrics September 2022 Volume 176, Number 9, 839-840.