Accelerating the Art of Acclimating to Autism
- Cindy Nguyen
- Aug 7, 2025
- 5 min read
From primitive times to present day, it was essential that one must adapt to a structure to survive. Such notions inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of “survival of the fittest.” Similarly, throughout the complex history of psychology and psychological treatment, this sentiment has been applied to the ostracization of those with debilitating mental disorders through the housing in facilities deemed “insane asylums,” or psychological wards, and the hostile and abusive treatment they received in this care, ranging from lobotomies to insulin coma therapy (“Old Mental Asylum Treatments” 2025). Just as those who did not have the capacity to adjust to conventional social structure were alienated by being coerced into residing in these asylums, people with autism spectrum disorder
(ASD) still often feel alienated because of a rift between those who have a greater capacity to conform to social norms, or allistic people, and themselves. A simple remedy is to better facilitate a community for autistic people through social inclusion; however, this issue can only be addressed if differences in autistic people are embraced. By educating both autistic and allistic people on autism through representation in media, eradicating stigma on the Internet, and reforming the diagnostic process internationally, maximizing autistic inclusion is viable in modern society.
Autistic representation in media is the most practical, accessible means of promoting autistic inclusion through education on autistic differences, as the average person engages with the entertainment industry through either the Internet or by reading regularly. However, representation of autistic individuals primarily consists of popular characters in mainstream TV shows implied to be autistic and were intended to be caricatures of autistic people, such as Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory (“Is Sheldon Cooper Autistic?” 2025) and Dwight Schrute from The Office (“Unmasking the Autism Spectrum?” n.d.). Characters implied to be autistic should instead be written by autistic individuals such as Abed Nadir from Community (“Abed Nadir” 2024), thus, normalizing autistic traits and demonstrating to the world that autistic people are multi-dimensional human beings equally worthy of respect and rights who cannot be merely reduced to their disability. Further, there should be more representation of autistic people with average IQs and gifts, especially in children’s shows, as the majority of autistic representation portrays autistic people to be savants such as The Good Doctor or have extraordinary gifts in a specific field such as in Attorney Woo. More autistic side characters should be written to best normalize autistic characters, thus, ensuring a TV show performs well while maintaining accurate representation of the autism spectrum. If writing autistic characters in children's shows was more prioritized, as well, autistic people would grow up without the trauma of not belonging among their peers, as being autistic would be normalized. Thus, the likelihood that undiagnosed autistic people who can access a diagnosis will seek one is maximized, integration of autistic people into society is facilitated, and understanding of autism is fostered.
An alternative proactive approach to integrating autistic people into society is to ensure inclusion of autistic people as clinical psychiatrists. The majority of psychiatrists in neurodevelopmental disorders are not autistic. However, in an experiment conducted in the United Kingdom, wherein diagnosed and self-identifying autistic clinical psychiatrists were interviewed at length on their assessments of autistic individuals, swift detection of autistic individuals was reported (Doherty et al. 2024). Further, according to a study in Edinburgh, Scotland, wherein 154 autistic and 157 allistic participants from Edinburgh, Nottingham, and Dallas across a spectrum of genders, ages, ethnicities, and cognitive abilities reported their interactions with others, autistic participants and allistic participants likewise declared more social connection and preferred interaction among their respective neurotypes (Naughton 2025). Thus, autistic people would be optimal psychiatrists for clients seeking a diagnosis for autism, as an autistic psychiatrist would have the capacity to communicate and intuitively understand each other better than a neurotypical psychiatrist and an autistic client. However, autistic psychiatrists would only be more efficient at detecting other autistic people if they were trained and educated properly, as biases against diagnosing women are still prevalent presently. Because there is a disparity between the manifestation of autistic behavioral traits in women and men, such as higher occurrence of masking earlier in life in autistic women than men, autistic girls and women have been diagnosed later on in life (Cook et al. 2024). Further, autistic women have a vast disparity between the level of their self-reported traits and the traits observed by psychiatrists, thus, indicating a potentially greater amount of masking among women relative to men. These behavioral differences of women often lead to a vast amount of women left undiagnosed (Cook et al. 2024). Psychiatrists should also be trained to distinguish between symptoms and manifestations of autism and ADHD, as there is substantial aetiological overlap between the two due to genetic factors present in both (Lau-Zhu et al. 2019). This measure is especially crucial, as the awareness of the comorbidity of autism and ADHD, known as auDHD, is rapidly developing, reflecting the common co-existence of the disorders (Doherty et al. 2024). Overall, the prospect of autistic people as efficient psychiatrists for autism is promising, especially as pattern recognition and logical thinking are hard-wired into autistic people (“Autism and Logical Thinking” 2024), thus enabling autistic psychiatrists to be inherently proficient at differentiating between autism and ADHD.
By informing people on autism through media representation and incorporating autistic people into the diagnostic workplace for neurodevelopmental disorders, maximizing inclusion of autistic people is ensured. With the increased prevalence of autism, psychiatrists who are diagnosed with autism can assist others with other existing issues that stem from autism, such as the negative byproducts of autism and those of the complex comorbidity of auDHD through their personal understanding and experience of autism. Therefore, we as a society can promote diversity in neurotypes in the workplace, eliminate stigma towards autism, and integrate advocacy of the different perspective that arises through autism globally through autistic inclusion.
Citations
Cook, Julia, Laura Hull, and Will Mandy. "Improving Diagnostic Procedures in Autism for Girls and Women: A Narrative Review." PubMed Central. National Library of Medicine, March 7, 2024. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S372723.
Doherty, Mary, Nick Chown, Nicola Martin, and Sebastian C. K. Shaw. “Autistic Psychiatrists’ Experiences of Recognising Themselves and Others as Autistic: A Qualitative Study.” BJPsych Open 10, no. 6 (2024): e183. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2024.756.
"Is Sheldon Cooper Autistic? Understanding His Character Traits." Inclusive ABA. Inclusive ABA, February 22, 2025. https://www.inclusiveaba.com/blog/is-sheldon-cooper-autistic.
Lau-zhu, Alex, Anne Fritz, and Gráinne Mcloughlin. "Overlap and Distinctions between Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Young Adulthood: Systematic Review and Guiding Framework for EEG-imaging Research," Jan. 2019. PubMed Central. National Library of Medicine, Accessed July 31, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.10.009.
Malik-Soni, Natasha, Andrew Shaker, Helen Luck, Anne E. Mullin, Ryan E. Wiley, M.E. Suzanne Lewis, Joaquin Fuentes, and Thomas W. Frazier. "Tackling Healthcare Access Barriers for Individuals with Autism from Diagnosis to Adulthood." PubMed Central. National Library of Medicine, March 25, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-021-01465-y.
Naughton, Sophia. "Scientists Just Debunked The Biggest Myth About Autism Communication." StudyFinds. StudyFinds, May 30, 2025. https://studyfinds.org/autistic-minds-communicate-differently/.
"Office's Dwight: Unmasking the Autism Spectrum?," n.d. Curiosity. Curiosity, Accessed July 31, 2025. https://blog.curiosify.net/is-dwight-from-the-office-autistic/.
"Old Mental Asylum Treatments: Shocking Practices from the 1800s." NeuroLaunch. NeuroLaunch, February 16, 2025. https://neurolaunch.com/old-mental-asylum-treatments/.
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