Thank you for your perspective.longtime lurker, first time poster. Figured since I have autism and have family members and close family friend with autism I could provide some insight on the autism comment since people are talking about it. I'm also going into a healthcare related field so I'm pretty up to date on the current journal articles on ASD
I think it's fair to say autism's associated with low intelligence, but not the way SHE said it, if that makes sense. Basically, half of us have an IQ below 70 (legal limit for intellectual disability), and then half of us have an IQ in the "normal" range between 71-140+. Some autistic activists try to make this sound like "half of us are below average and half of us are above, just like neurotypical people uwu!" but that's not true. Half of us have an INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, and half of us follow normal distribution. (For neurotypical people, none of them have an intellectual disability unless they're injured. Otherwise you have some kind of neurodivergency if your IQ is that low. Sorry if this phrasing sounds callous... I'm not the best with phrasing but as I said, I live with this condition myself every day.) I'm not sure why these activists do this, I think it's because they're trying to change the perception of us as this pitiable disabled community. But I think we need to remember that people with intellectual disabilities ARE half of our community. (This has been a trend from certain "autism advocacy" organizations and I find it pretty disturbing, since they always end up prioritizing people like me rather than people like my close friend who can't speak and has seizures. Not okay. They're also lying about the numbers.) Ultimately, intellectual disability is the most common symptom of autism outside of the 3 that define the condition (stims, restricted interests, and social difficulties), so it's not stereotyping to point that out. Especially when glossing over that fact hurts autistic people who have a harder time speaking up for themselves.
THAT SAID, finding someone a bit dim and immediately saying "oh that's autism" is offensive. 1. It directs attention away from other disorders which can lower intelligence (which makes it harder to get funding for research and treatments for those conditions) 2. It implies that autism always means intellectual disability. I'm getting a masters degree and I have ASD I, so no, not the case at all.
I also really reject the idea of self-diagnosis. Again, I know some "autism advocates" who really like it, but ultimately there's far too many conditions with overlapping symptoms to really get an accurate assessment without a clinician. This is somewhat of a source of controversy in the community, and I see both sides but I think the risk is too great at the end of the day. But back onto Josie: I guess in the case of Dickens she'd want a specialized vet or pet behavioralist? I think those are the people who would diagnose a dog.
Anyway, sorry for the slightly off topic discussion but it's been talked around a bit so I thought this might be helpful
Please don’t go by what this horrible women insinuates. If anything, she needs to be checked for control issues. Anything and everything she does is for the gram. She has as much personality as a raccoon.
. Major sponsorship... wow you really are scraping the bottom for cash.
. That was hard to see for a bag girl who earns and pays for own bags.
you tell her!
It really makees on uncomfortable looking at it.