Question: Has your research changed your view on the world and how you see it

Amy Pearson answered on 14 Jun 2018:

Awesome question Lyla. It definitely has, yeah. I used to have some very set ideas about what autism is, and look at it as something that people ‘struggled’ with that needed some kind of ‘help’, rather than was part of them. Years of working with autistic people has really helped open my eyes up to what the real problems are- often being perceived as ‘less’ or ‘broken’ in some way. My way of viewing autism has completely changed, even in the years since doing my undergraduate degree in Psychology. I’ve moved away from the idea of changing autistic people, to changing the environment and social perception so that their lives are easier and happier. I think for me this has been my big switch in viewpoint, more than anything else.