I think I've run across a good writer who thinks on my wavelength in terms of the "gentrification of mental illness / neurodivergence", and he wrote an excellent essay criticizing a recent book of Devon Price (a blogger/writer/activist I've run across and felt critical of for years; once known as "E. Price", they wrote that famous "Laziness Does Not Exist" post which I made an effortpost about way back in my days of Wordpress blogging and going on about low-agency vs. high-agency goggles). To be fair, I should say, Jon Machnee's post is an excellent review of Price's book modulo the fact that I haven't read Price's book.
Here is a passage I find particularly striking, even if it's purely anecdotal:
Recently, I attended a BBQ at my sister’s house. She knew I had nothing on that weekend and wanted me to work the grill so her and her friends could hang out in peace. I obliged, as any good brother would, and was surprised to learn that her whole friend group had autism. I have spent the better part of 12 years talking with, studying, and researching autism, and while I know you can’t diagnose or undiagnose someone at a party whilst also grilling hotdogs, I would bet my entire life savings that not a single one of them had an actual autism diagnosis or would get one if they were assessed. At one point, they told me that my sister, who does not have autism but does have ADHD, was the most autistic of the group. One of them even asked me what I thought of Price’s book and expressed how much it meant to them. This is particularly funny in hindsight because a few month later my sister reported that not only did they not have autism, but when they went to talk to a professional about it, they became distraught upon learning that they weren’t even remotely close to meeting any of the criteria. Apparently after the BBQ, some of my sister’s allegedly autistic friends asked her what was wrong with me, and she had to inform them, and I quote, “Oh, he has, like, real autism.”
