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Are we “specialists” or do we have a “special interest” in Autism? (What do we call ourselves as professionals?)
- October 1, 2024
- Posted by: AP-Admin
- Category: blog
There is no one qualification to become a “specialist” in Autism. I was once wisely told by my supervisor that I have a “special interest” in Autism, ironic given that “special interests” are often a diagnostic criteria.
So this made me question; What makes someone a specialist? Is it education or experience? Is there a level of education or number of years experience that we should have as a benchmark? At what point can I call myself a “specialist”?
Certainly we have the years of experience between us (nearly 50 years we calculated!), but just because you’ve been doing something for a long time does that make you a specialist?
We’re all postgraduate adult learners in our team, who love nothing more than a new article or book recommendation. We’re constantly questioning, listening and learning. I left the Autism studies Masters pathway to work towards a Doctorate. My research is in the experiences of Minimally Verbal Autistic children (oh so many posts to come on this subject). But does hoping to one day use the prefix “Dr” make me a specialist?
In my opinion it’s not the number of years, or level of education necessarily but rather what you do with that information and what you continue to do as time marches on. Self labelling yourself as a “specialist” implies a finite skill set, while we’re aiming for something more…. an evolving interest and knowledge base. Certainly the more I read about Autism the less I realise I know.
But who is the real “specialist” when it comes to your child? Well you are, of course. You know your child inside out and upside down. You’ve been there for the highs, lows and everything in between that comes with being a parent.
So let’s combine our “specialisms”, you tell me about your child, and I’ll tell you what I’ve learnt over the years. We can then create something special in the space between.