Is Identifying as Autistic a Trend?

On the Pumpkin-Spice Latteness of it all

Welcome to God is My Special Interest, a newsletter on the intersection of late-diagnosed autism and recovering from high control religion. I publish 3 public essays a month, and one (more personal) essay behind a paywall for paid subscribers. If you sign up to be a paid subscriber, you also get twice a month community threads (they are always so full of good things!) and the occasional Zoom chats/workshops. If you can’t afford to pay for a subscription, please email me at dlmmcsweeneys@gmail.com and I will hook you up, no questions asked.

Thanks so much to everyone who filled out the Google form on what topics you would like to see addressed in this space! It was really helpful feedback, and gave me a few new rabbit trails to go down.

I especially liked looking at how the majority of you have experienced a faith shift, and a very large percentage of you all have also come to understanding yourself as neurodivergent. Are you doing ok? Drink a cup of tea or eat a cupcake or something for me. That is a whole heck of a lot of change to unpack. I’m glad we can do it together!

But mostly, the consensus seemed to be that there aren’t a lot of conversations happening in this particular niche of late-diagnosed autism and recovering from high control religion, so we are going to have to do a lot of this trailblazing work ourselves! But I’m so glad we are here together.

One question that really stood out to me was along these lines:

Like a lot of other white middle-aged people socialized as female, I am beginning to think I might be neurodivergent. But how do I deal with the sense that so many people think this is a “trend” and dismiss the conversation? Is self-identifying as autistic or neurodivergent the new Pumpkin Spice Latte in the wider culture? Something to mock/ignore/dismiss instead of learning about? How do we deal with all of this, while also exploring our own possible diagnosis?

This is a really great question, and one that plagued me when I first was confronted with the reality that I might be autistic. 

But now, about 18 months later, it doesn’t really bother me at all. And I’m taking some time to sit with that!