4 Comments
User's avatar
Mary Fisk's avatar

Yes - it’s the double whammy… no need to consider as it’s part of being autistic. But if you do get over that hurdle, the anxiety is often treated as just some standalone ‘condition’ that will respond to generalised ‘anxiety treatment’ because they are ‘an anxious child’. Which, as a third blow, is apparently often solely due to the fact that the parents are creating the anxiety in the child as a result of their own anxiety… No looking at the specific root causes of the anxiety, precisely why this particular child is anxious or what can be done about those causal factors. Nor any consideration of the fact that the child presents totally differently in different environments and isn’t anxious in a lot/most of those.

Expand full comment
Andrea Ferretti's avatar

I love this. Thanks for the reminder -- it helps me frame it for my girl, who I fear thinks of herself as "an anxious person."

Expand full comment
Brianna Leigh's avatar

Yes, I was told this was the reason we could not have a follow-up appointment with our psychiatrist after my kiddo’s autism diagnosis. He had been a great help and pointed us towards the psychologist that made the diagnosis, but once you have that autism label, nobody wants to help. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Expand full comment
Dar's avatar

Thank you for your work. I appreciate that your insights help me to consider things from new angles.

Thank you for helping us see that the emotions we experience aren't necessarily baked into one's personality. I think this is universally applicable.

(Maybe this is why I loathe when people use personality inventories as party games. Not only is that reductionistic, and a misuse of a professional tool, but it implies that the way we interact with the world is the same in every instance and is set in stone. )

Expand full comment