Autism: the absence of experts

I am of the opinion that anyone who thinks they are an autism expert is, by thinking that, clearly not. You can be an expert in your autistic self, your autistic children, your school. You might be an expert in understanding autism and intersectionality, or an expert in autism and sociality. There are numerous areas you might be an expert in. But I don’t think anyone can be an autism expert per se. (Luke Beardon, What Works for Autistic Adults, p. xii)

This becomes obvious the moment you recall the sheer diversity of autistic experience. Current thinking suggests that autism arises from a range of genetic factors with the result that people can be autistic in very different ways – what is unbearable for one autistic person may be precisely what is most soothing for another. And this diversity is compounded by the vast range of possible environments in which we may find ourselves and how we respond to specific environments.