We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode How Increased Autism Diagnoses Are Changing the Way We Think About Neurodiversity

How Increased Autism Diagnoses Are Changing the Way We Think About Neurodiversity

2025/4/29
logo of podcast KQED's Forum

KQED's Forum
AI Deep Dive Transcript
People
A
Alexis Madrigal
C
Christine Wu Nordahl
H
Holden Thorp
M
Mary HK Choi
听
听众来信
Topics
Holden Thorp: 我在53岁时被诊断出患有自闭症。这改变了我对自身和世界的看法，也让我更好地理解了自闭症患者的经历。我意识到，许多自闭症患者在职场和生活中都面临着挑战，但他们也拥有独特的才能和视角。公开我的自闭症身份后，我得到了很多积极的反馈，并结识了新的朋友。这让我更加坚信，我们需要创造一个更加包容和理解的环境，让自闭症患者能够更好地融入社会。 我曾经在学术界和管理岗位上取得了成功，这并不意味着自闭症患者不能取得成功。相反，我认为自闭症患者的独特思维方式可以为社会带来巨大的贡献。我们需要做的，是帮助自闭症患者发挥他们的潜力，而不是试图改变他们。 Christine Wu Nordahl: 自闭症谱系障碍是一个异质性很强的疾病，患者的症状和严重程度差异很大。我的研究团队正在努力细分自闭症谱系障碍的不同亚型，以便更好地进行治疗和干预。我们已经识别出了一些自闭症亚型，例如“大脑较大”型自闭症，这类患者在三岁时大脑较大，预后较差。 女性和女孩的自闭症诊断率正在上升，这与人们对自闭症的认识提高以及新的诊断工具的出现有关。许多自闭症女孩能够很好地掩盖自己的症状，这导致她们的病情被忽视或误诊。我们需要提高对女性自闭症的认识，并开发更有效的诊断工具。 社会对自闭症的理解存在分歧，一部分人认为自闭症是一种需要克服的疾病，而另一部分人则认为自闭症是一种神经多样性。我们需要尊重每位自闭症患者的个体差异，并为他们提供个性化的支持和帮助。 Mary HK Choi: 我在40多岁时被诊断出患有自闭症。这改变了我对自身和世界的看法，也让我更好地理解了自闭症患者的经历。被诊断出患有自闭症后，我感到如释重负，并开始反思自己过去的生活经历。我意识到，许多我过去经历的困难并非我的错，而是因为世界没有为我这样的自闭症患者做好准备。 我过去常常掩盖自己的自闭症症状，这让我感到非常疲惫。现在，我开始接受自己的真实身份，并努力创造一个更加包容和理解的环境。我相信，每一个自闭症患者都是独一无二的，我们应该尊重和庆祝他们的差异。

Deep Dive

Shownotes Transcript

Autism spectrum disorder can be found in 2.2% of the population, but for women and girls, as well as many adults, autism is a diagnosis that is often missed. We look into who is underdiagnosed and why — and how our conceptions of autism and neurodivergence are changing. As Trump’s health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. portrays autism as a “tragedy,” we’ll talk about ways in which many people with autism are living and thriving.

Guests:

Mary HK Choi, author and editor, she recently wrote The Cut article "I Was Diagnosed With Autism in My 40s. It Gave Me a Lot of Answers."

Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief, Science family of journals; Thorp is the former provost of Washington University and prior to that was chancellor at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His recent guest essay in the New York Times is titled "I Was Diagnosed with Autism at 53. I Know Why Rates Are Rising."

Christine Wu Nordahl, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis; Nordahl is the Director of the Autism Phenome Project and the Beneto Foundation Endowed Chair at the MIND Institute

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices)