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Argument, Autistic Pride Day Symposium 2024
Two psychologists told the symposium they would rather talk about support than treatment
In short
When Kyriakos Gold told a Melbourne panel in 2024 that he did not want to be treated, Dr Judy Tang and Dr Naomi Malone explained why their professions were moving away from the word.
Read it instead, 4 minutesThe transcript
The story
Kyriakos Gold, who hosted the session, put the question to the panel in his own terms. “for me it’s a loaded word like I don’t want to be treated. I don’t want to be changed.” Gold asked the two practitioners on the opening panel of the Melbourne day of the 2024 Autistic Pride Day Symposium, Dr Judy Tang and Dr Naomi Malone, what a practitioner’s view of the word treatment was.
Tang, a neuropsychologist, began by returning to something discussed before, the unlearning of a lot of what had been taught about autism. In society, she said, especially over the previous year, there had been a real shift toward understanding diversity and toward autism as an identity. That shift had moved into the health professions, which were now trying to understand the spectrum as a whole.
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Sources the story draws on
- National Guideline for the Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism: Introduction (opens in a new tab), Autism CRC
- About the Guideline (opens in a new tab), Autism CRC
- Supporting Autistic Children (National Guideline for supporting the learning, participation, and wellbeing of autistic children and their families in Australia) (opens in a new tab), Autism CRC
- Release of the National Autism Strategy 2025-31 (opens in a new tab), Department of Social Services (Australian Government)
More from Autistic Pride Day Symposium 2024
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1 minute 45 seconds, captioned Mental health professionals had a lot of unlearning to do, Dr Judy Tang said Dr Judy Tang On the Melbourne day of the 2024 Autistic Pride Day Symposium, the neuropsychologist named the diagnostic checklist as part of what she had to unlearn. A practitioner on the panel located innovation in that unlearning. -
2 minutes 28 seconds, captioned Naomi Malone said allies could meet autistic people halfway across the bridge Dr Naomi Malone, Kyriakos Gold Asked in Melbourne in 2024 whether practitioners need lived experience of autism, Dr Naomi Malone said it was valuable but not essential, and offered an image of allies on a bridge. Kyriakos Gold replied that autistic people had walked it all. - 9 minutes 53 seconds, captioned A practitioner said autism assessment had more entry points but no gold standard Kyriakos Gold At the 2024 Autistic Pride Day Symposium in Melbourne, practitioners defined holistic care, said neuroaffirming practitioners were getting easier to find, and named what the system still lacked.
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