Psiclause

Autism: “The spectrum has become so accommodating that I fear that it has now been stretched so far that it has become meaningless and is no longer useful as a medical diagnosis.” Problem is that psychologists, and increasingly a flood of master’s level therapists have come to rely on the autism diagnosis to support their practice. Their livelihood. I suspect schools face a similar reliance on autism diagnoses for extra funding. Furthermore: Parents love it because their child gets extra services. Students love it because it makes them special. Drug companies love it because they profit from drugs. Psychologists are supposed to be the gatekeepers on diagnoses, but we are not doing very well at it.