Ep38 Battling Diagnostic Stigmas- A Discussion with Sarah Alford Hart (Ethics)

While there is plenty of discussion about the increase in autism diagnoses during the current and recent generation, we cannot forget there’s a generation of individuals, particularly female, who were overlooked. Depending on when a person receives a diagnosis, the changes and opportunities for an individual shift.

In this LIVE talk, we meet with Sarah, who received her diagnosis of autism later in life. She’ll discuss the difficulties she encountered whilst growing up and how practitioners can assist with spotting issues earlier on, advocating for clients regardless of age and development. Autism, disabilities, look different for everyone and it is imperative that we remember to treat each individual as their own person, putting aside our biases and stigmas that may come with a diagnosis.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss how a diagnosis affects the contingencies of an individual when it is received at different stages in one’s development.

2. Describe ways that BCBAs can advocate for their clients who may be seeking out additional diagnoses and services and the barriers they face.

3. Provide better descriptions of individuals based on objectively measured skills versus using subjective terminology such as “high-” and “low-functioning”.

Take Aways- your bite-sized educational noms

- If a child receives a diagnosis early in their life, there may be more opportunities for support, resources, better understanding. But when it occurs later in life, it can lead to moments of reflection, “huh. That makes sense now,” and sometimes heartache with the realization that extra support was needed but lacking the communication, language to gets those needs met. Autistic females have a history of being under or misdiagnosed. Females of color or indigenous people have an even greater percentage of being un- or misdiagnosed.

- Asking for more information is ok. Seeking out additional education, knowledge can be beneficial when working with an individual who is struggling. Listening to the client and their support system’s values and concerns is advantageous when developing successful programs.

- Concepts and terms like “high” and “low” functioning are too vague when it comes to providing a well rounded and understood description of an individual. For example, there are many neurodivergent individuals who may have limited communication skills but have fantastic receptive abilities. Focusing on the skills a person has continues to uphold the uniqueness and success of the individual rather than focus on their deficits, limitations, and diagnoses.

Support: The LEAP Institute The Lighthouse for Equitable Access and Practices https://www.leapaba.org/

Worth 1.5 Learning, 1.5 Ethics CEUs

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