More white people autistic

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I am a black person who has been diagnosed (though not fully accepting).

I'm guessing culture may affect both how it is expressed and how it is perceived. Based on my experiences growing up, we kids were not expected to talk much to our parents. We were spoken to, but there was no expectation of reciprocation. There was plenty of yelling and hollering and whuppings if we fell out of step.

I was not disciplined very much as a kid, but that's because I was always afraid of getting in trouble. I was on high alert to make sure I was "good". If I had exhibited any of the tendencies I do now as a kid, I wouldn't have been taken to the doctor. I would have gotten a whuppin'. (I think if that I had been really disruptive, my parents would have eventually taken me to a professional. But I was too scared of the belt to let myself get to that point!)

I don't like big generalizations, but I do think black parents tend to be more strict and less tolerant of "Aspieness" than whites. They also tends towards spirituality and don't put a lot of stock in the medical establishment. My mother was repeatedly informed by my teachers that my lack of facial expression and motor delays were concerning. But my mother, who has always distrusted the opinion's of "authority", thought those were things that I could work out on my own. She was largely right, so she wins on that point. My issues are still with me, but they haven't held me back in life.

I think when you are confronting something huge (like racism), other stuff looks trivial. I think my parents knew they had a goofy kid on their hands, but that fact took backseat to challenge of raising a strong black female. To be nice, to be a good Christian, and to be self-reliant were the things my parents put a high premium on. Happiness? I hate to say it, but I think my parents viewed this as a triviality. I wasn't totally unhappy growing up, but I think instilling happiness in your kids requires actually getting to know them. This is where my parents failed.

I told my therapist that one reason I have problems with my diagnosis is that I was raised to identify as a "strong black woman". You know the stereotype. Someone who doesn't let anything get in her way, who is nonsense and tough, and full of common sense. The complete opposite of the Aspie caricature. I have never thought of myself as a "strong black woman", but it was still an appealing image to hold onto as a possibility, at least. If I accept the Aspie description for myself, I don't know what type of black person I am. I am not a Steve Urkel. So there is no one else. Except for maybe Harriet Tubman. She was neurologically atypical because of a head injury and suffered from narcolepsy. But she was badass and very much strong.

More white people than black people can afford to get a psychiatric evaluation as well as a screening for ASDs. This is why black people in Great Britain (where everyone is entitled to free healthcare, the way it should be) are more likely to have Asperger's syndrome than black Americans.

Some comments and questions.

You were raised to indentify with a particular type of 'strong black woman,' one which is stereotypical, yet there is a diverse population of 'strong black woman' as rich and as broad as God's green earth.

Would you consider your strong adherence to the indentification of one stereotypical image of a Black woman a function of cultural upbringing or Black/White thinking ?

In other words: IF I gave you a definition of 'a strong black woman' and asked you to name the ones that came to your mind; would *your* definition over-ride the one i gave you ?

Would you consider yourself more like the daughters on the Fresh Prince of Belair and/or Cosby Show ? or neither ? *playing a hunch*

TheSunAlsoRises

I live in Canada, with free health care, and in a very multicultural area, and still, the visible minorities I see who are diagnosed with ASD are mostly low-functioning. They were probably diagnosed because it was obvious that they needed extra help.

The only place I am aware of in the real world, where diagnoses are made public are support groups and in classes and schools specifically oriented toward Autism. Other than this how do you determine if someone is diagnosed when you see them in the general public? It would be possible to guess if someone was professionally diagnosed with an ASD, but close to impossible to determine it for sure just by observing them in a brief encounter, without a disclosure of diagnosis.

I lived in a predominately black community. The white people with ASDs were higher functioning and the black people were lower functioning.