Twilah Hiari is an autistic blog writer whose opinions, in part, are a throwback to the Anti-Psychiatry movement of the 1960’s but actualized to fit the problematics of the current Neurodiversity movement. She is highly intelligent and persuasive in her thinking, primarily as she talks from first hand experience.   Her blog site “Mad in America” has the subtitle of Science, Psychiatry and Social Justice. She is widely read and and uses ideas ranging from stages of grieving to our gut microbiota to sustain some of her arguments.  Unfortunately, Ms. Hiari has not fitted into the prescribed mold of the Neurodiversity movement. Like so many others, if your are not in complete agreement with their credo, then your experiences are not valid nor real. In her recent blog, “Neurodiversity is Dead“, she discusses the fallacies of this social movement. Indeed, as she clearly states, autism is not the result of normal variability within the human genome.  To say the same, only serves to publicize a lack of understanding as to the scientific literature.  In addition, she also takes aim at the biased writings of Steve Silberman (author of Neurotribes) who proclaims that the prevalence of autism has not changed throughout history.  I found it rather amusing that the objections of the Neurodiversity movement to Ms. Hiari’s argument recapitulate those of other autistic authors who oppose them: “Neurodiversity proponents respond to my report with one the following responses: 1. Erase me from the conversation by pretending that autistics like me don’t exist. 2. Tell me that I’m experiencing something other than autism. 3. Tell me I still need to accept myself as is and make no efforts to heal what is clearly a cycle of cell death in my brain”.  I am sure that the read will find her blog an interesting read.

References

On Silberman, Austria and on re-writing the history of autism

Neurotribe or Diatribe

Historical Underpinnings of the Neurodiversity Movement: Part I

Historical Underpinnings of the Neurodiversity Movement: Part II