Peter Wynn
Jul 17, 2021

I use the analogy of a petrol engine and a diesel engine. If you put diesel into a petrol engine, it will blow thick black smoke. If you put petrol into a diesel engine, it won't go, or if it does, it will go about 400 metres down the road and stop. A petrol engine has spark plugs, a diesel engine has glow plugs. So, conventional mental health strategies do not work for autistic people. I remember once, a former housemate, who was deliberately unpleasant, who said to me, : Have you heard about cognitive behaviour therapy?" "Yes, and it wasn't effective." He couldn't understand why. He couldn't understand that it can be a balancing act of either making the environment right for you, or bringing what you need to adjust the environment.

Peter Wynn
Peter Wynn

Written by Peter Wynn

Diagnosed with autism at 35. Explained a lifetime of difference.

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