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Although autism itself isn’t new, we’ve called this issue The New Autism because courageous voices inside and outside our field are helping us see it in new ways. Many of these voices belong to therapists and coaches who are themselves neurodivergent. As we learn from them, the standard approaches to depression and anxiety, and even to common relationship problems brought up in couples therapy, were designed from within a neurotypical framework. Using them may actually cause harm to Autistic people—including the undiagnosed, high-masking clients who may be flying under the radar in your practice or those who are part of an astonishingly large wave of adults grappling with a later-life autism diagnosis. Providing safe, attuned, and affirming care will require many more mental health professionals, even some already working within the autism community, to update their understanding of the wide spectrum of neurodivergence and the complex, vulnerable nervous systems at stake.
The perspectives you’ll find in this issue invite you to shift your mindset. For some, it may be a difficult or disorienting shift, but ultimately, making it will empower all of us to provide more people with the neuro-affirming care and validation our world needs.
Join the conversation and let us know what you think at letters@psychnetworker.org.
