The slogan “Nothing about us without us” has become one of the defining principles of modern disability advocacy. At its core, it expresses an important moral idea: disabled people should not be excluded from decisions that affect their lives. In many contexts, this principle is both reasonable and necessary. But autism raises difficult questions that the slogan alone cannot answer. Who exactly is the “us” without whom nothing can be decided? Does it refer primarily to autist

In recent decades, clinicians and researchers have become increasingly aware of a form of extreme social withdrawal lasting at least six months, known as hikikomori [ 1 ]. The term was coined in the late 1990s by Japanese psychiatrist Saitō Tamaki to describe individuals who withdraw almost entirely from social life, isolating themselves within their home – often in a single room – refusing school or work, and avoiding face-to-face relationships. While some remain connected t

A Simplification That Simplifies Nothing The 5 th edition, published in 2013, set out to simplify and modernise the nosology of autism-related disorders, replacing the DSM-IV’s cluster of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs) — Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Rett’s Disorder [ 1 ] and PDD-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) — with a single diagnosis: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The intent was, in principle, laudable: a spectrum

Let’s start with linguistics: The way we label things around us means a great deal. Let’s look at the widely used terms in an ‘autistic way’, i.e., literally (without adding any personal connotation – neither positive, nor negative) – each word in this section has its dictionary meaning. - Autism Spectrum : Spectrum is defined as ‘the entire range of particular type of thing, arranged by degree or quality, etc.’; it is used to classify something in terms of positio