I've always found it fascinating that there are people who actively want to be associated with the label of autism, especially when it's teenagers.
I think when something forms a subculture, teenagers will attach themselves to something, even if it's considered bad or weird, because it helps them feel like they "fit in".
There's a natural sense of teenagers to separate themselves to find their own identity, including figuring out whether or not they're some kind of "special" or "weird", especially if it covers up how average and boring they are, because, let's face it, even as youngsters, we know who the high achievers are, the ones who are destined for bigger and better, and many of us know that we're not.
So, if we can attach a label to ourselves that at least makes being average less painful, or hell, gives you something to be "brave" in the face of, wouldn't you grab onto it?
She basically explained that, in her professional opinion, it's a combination of all three, but it's one of those things that won't ever be researched, or atleast not for a while because nobody wants to be accused of being the next doctor trying to push the "Vaccines cause autism" line.
See, this right here is why people don't understand that even medical professionals are generally mediocre. Your doctor isn't a special breed of person. They're just regular people with medical degrees, who, just like you, are susceptible to localized trends.
As such, they'll all hide behind the idea that "it was the best information we had at the time" rather than sticking their neck out when something is very obviously wrong with the way burgeoning trends arise.
So as young medical students need to be looking for horses and not zebras, so should they understand that not every horse is a quarter horse. But it's better when you have student loans to pay and are overbooked to compensate, I suppose, to send everyone away with similar treatments because it's just easier to get someone out of your office and onto the next one, rather than treat everyone as individuals and every so often tell them that they're entirely normal and almost probably full of shit.
