I relate it to two experiences that I had when I was younger. When I was 12, I was being viciously bullied at school and I became ill with asthma. I had a doctor tell me that my cough was, quote, "a bit of a habit." Someone from the Asthma Foundation said that that was a bad way of describing psychosomatic symptoms. What I needed was a doctor who could say, "Your asthma is a combination of a stress reaction and a stimulus that we can't yet find. I think that I should send you to, checks pad, gastroenterology for an endoscopy to see if gluten is causing symptoms, and you NEED to be taken out of school." When I was 22, I saw a doctor who was as useless as a hip pocket on a singlet who told me that I had, quote, "a non-descript chest condition. A bit like bronchitis, a bit like asthma...." And wouldn't label me an asthmatic, as I am. This doctor, however, prescribed a heavy dose of medication that made me unwell.

The second doctor doesn't seem to like placing labels on people but applies rules from one template to everybody.

When people say, "Don't let autism define you," they REALLY need to say, "Autism does define you, but public perceptions of autism need to change." Autism is a disability, but also, when an autistic person is in the right environment, they can thrive and if their special talents are noticed, then they are appreciated. After all, I remember reading that Charles Dickens lived in Portsmouth, London and Chatham, and as was said in the author description in Great Expectations, "He was happiest at Chatham, where he attended a school run by a young Baptist Minister, who recognised his abilities and paid him special attention." The same should apply to autistic people.