WHY AUTISM EDUCATION IS ESSENTIAL FOR MEDICAL PEOPLE.

Last year, after I moved from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane, my cardiologist up there asked me if I wanted her to refer me to one in Brisbane. I answered in the affirmative, and my GP had asked me, also, if I wanted her to refer me to one down here, instead, too. We settled upon one in Brisbane.

One of the things I had difficulty with when dealing with my cardiologist on the Sunshine Coast was her use of the word "normal". It is bad enough having to fight my "mother" on that, but having to explain it to a doctor was a bit annoying. The cardiologist I have in Brisbane, however, when I explained to her that I'm autistic, said, "Well, autism won't cause heart problems," and I replied, "Yes, I know, other than broken-heartedness, but I wanted to let you know that I'm autistic so you'd understand me better." She understood that and a major positive I'd give her, too, is that she has refrained from using the word "normal" when talking to me.

I know that the Hippocratic Oath states that you must perform life-saving surgery on a mass-murderer, and that medicine is about easing suffering, BUT, to what degree a person is "suffering" can be subjective. I remember a man, years ago, who had cancer, who said he'd rather have cancer than heart disease and that he was getting on with living. I haven't necessarily heard of anybody who has leapt a foot in the air in excitement at being diagnosed. The difference is, cancer is a disease; autism is not. And let's not forget that many of us who are autistic are actually quite proud to be autistic. Yes, we can experience mental illness, but that is what we want to keep in check, not autism.

My kidney specialist shot up in my estimations not just through her diligence, but because on social media, she speaks out against anti-vaxxers and even retweeted something from Ban CD-MMS. One visit, after initial greetings, I thanked her for defending my neuro-tribe and she said that it makes her so angry that people do that to their kids. She also understands how important Nutsy is to my mental health.

Medical people may THINK they mean well by saying that something is normal, without realising that to many autistics, normal is synonymous with neuro-typical, which is actually quite hurtful. Just like it can be awkward to explain to a child that they have a splenectomy, rather than having their spleen taken out, it won't hurt the medical world to learn to speak some of what Professor Tony Attwood calls "Aspergerese" to deal with autistics. That term is not about Asperger's supremacy, merely about understanding differences between autistics and neuro-typical folks.