What's your view on a therapist openly showing they're autistic?

[Misty Avich]

Wouldn't bother me. If an autistic person is a trained therapist then that's all that matters. A bit like a therapist saying he or she is Jewish or something. It wouldn't matter to me, as long as they're a good therapist.

 

[Au Naturel]

I finished medical school and plan to continue my career in child and adolescent psychiatry. However, I am unsure as to whether - and if yes, how - it would be advisable for me to show that I'm on the spectrum. Both to my colleagues as well as to my patients.
I'm asexual, too, and during internships I wore a rainbow flag keychain but never mentioned it, and no one asked in detail, although some patients showed some interest. Obviously, I never mentioned it to anyone. Since I wasn't aware of my autism then, I didn't give any thought as to how open I want to be with that.

I don't mean displaying a huge banner on the wall saying I'm autistic, or actively bringing it up in conversation with patients. But I do use fidget toys, for example, and I'm wondering if using them during therapy sessions would be seen as unprofessional. Also, I'm wondering if it could put some patients more at ease, if I was fairly open with being on the spectrum. On the other hand, though, I don't want to seem unprofessional or give some colleagues or patients a target on me. I'm fairly good at masking at work, and I'm starting to suspect if mental health and getting people to open up about their feelings might even be a special interest of mine. I go at it very analytically and I am good at it. But I could probably be more relaxed and authentic at work if I didn't hide my autistic mannerisms.

What are your thoughts? How would you feel (maybe also as a child/teenager or a parent) if you had sessions with a therapist/psychiatrist who's openly autistic? Do you think it's unprofessional to have a fidget toy as a therapist or wear an autism pride gadget or something like that?

It depends if the patient is autistic.

The inability to understand NT thoughts and behaviors is often part of the autistic suite of traits. Not a deal killer but, if the patient were NT, it is something they would want to look at for the first couple of sessions.

If the patient was autistic, it might improve the therapy quality. I have had therapists who didn't have a clue where I was coming from.

There are plenty of other reasons why therapist-patient relations might not work out. Autistic compatibility is just one of many.

 

[Misty Avich]

It depends if the patient is autistic.

The inability to understand NT thoughts and behaviors is often part of the autistic suite of traits.

It is just as much an NT trait to not understand autistic thoughts and behaviours.

 

[vergil96]

I realise that stimming in a session could be very distracting for the patient.

It depends how you stim, but I think fidgeting is quite normal. I might be judging by my own standards, but I would trudt more someone who doesn't appear stuck up on minor behaviours and finds them normal, such as fidgeting or I find too much eye contact overwhelming. If someone looks at my face an awful lot, I feel observed and as if I should "perform", it's not chill. I often walk or do something outside with friends, that's what I would associate with relax personally, or sitting somewhere in nature side to side rather than in front of each other, or in a cafe and watching the street.

 

[GrownupGirl]

I think it would depend. I'm a woman with "mild" autism (I like to think I'm more spicy than mild, ha ha), and if the therapist is male, they might not relate to the challenges or traits of autistic women. They might not even think I'm on the spectrum because I'm not obviously stimming or playing around with fidget toys. I might even make decent eye contact.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I've never seen a therapist (other than physical therapy for injury). Now that I know I'm autistic, I believe I would prefer an autistic therapist if I decided to see a therapist for something.

 

[Au Naturel]

It is just as much an NT trait to not understand autistic thoughts and behaviours.

That's true. But NTs are never going to be expected to understand us. For the foreseeable future, we are the ones who will be expected to find our way in a confusing world.

 

[Misty Avich]

That's true. But NTs are never going to be expected to understand us. For the foreseeable future, we are the ones who will be expected to find our way in a confusing world.

It's not just us NTs don't understand. It's part of the human condition to have a better understanding of others who have had the same experiences. Some people are more compassionate than others but it's still not uncommon for people to not get other people's feelings on certain experiences they haven't experienced for themselves.

I see NTs not understanding each other often. That's often why you get animosity and disagreements.

 

[Hypnalis]

An interesting fact about who a given person is most likely to get along with and why:

The best predictor of how well one NT will get on with another is that they have the same accent. It's a good proxy for shared culture, which is in turn a good proxy for a high "startup level" of mutual understanding and clear communication.

Not 100% of course: "best".