Loving Your Place on the Spectrum by Jude Morrow

Author:Jude Morrow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beyond Words
Published: 2021-09-21T00:00:00+00:00

8

Generally Accepted Therapies

Around the world, many clinicians and practitioners offer treatments for autistic children and adults. Have I undergone various therapies as an autistic person? Yes, I have, and I found them very beneficial. For me, therapy didn’t involve changing who I was or my way of being, but rather it helped me accept and love myself.

Therapies and treatments have existed for autistic people since the beginning of psychiatric and psychological care; most have become widespread since the end of World War II and the beginning of the 1950s. Individuals, like me, who have undergone therapies to accept themselves generally flourish. Those who went through the more antiquated therapies designed to change a specific pattern or way of being have experienced mixed results.

Opinions on various therapies are so wide-ranging that they could have a spectrum all their own—one that is actually much larger than the autistic community. I have met men and women and children who praise certain therapies, and then there are those who vehemently oppose them. I am glad to hear that autistic voices are getting louder and expressing their thoughts on therapies. I hope those voices will continue to grow louder, but each individual considering therapy should examine all aspects of it and hear from autistic people who support and oppose a specific therapy.

I am not providing a peer-reviewed analysis of each and every therapy that exists in the world. I speak of my experience, share the stories that I’ve been told, and present others who openly share their experiences. Some have had positive experiences; others, not so much. That said, the actual focus of this chapter is not just therapy but how everyone, autistic or not, can move forward toward acceptance.

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