I finished reading this magazine I picked up last week. Overall, I didn't learn much I didn't already know, but I'm incredibly satisfied and impressed to have found such neuroaffirming content in the mainstream.
Ultimately, it felt like it was written by allistics, but ones who had spent a ton of time in #ActuallyAutistic communities and understood, to the best of their abilities, the neurodiversity movement.
ABA got about 100-150 words of coverage in a 90 page magazine, and was referred to as "controversial" but also "the oldest and most researched" form of therapy for Autism. I'd much rather it didn't get any coverage at all - or called "totally unacceptable and unethical" - but I can also imagine that the writers might've wanted or needed to be impartial.
On the whole, the magazine reinforced the idea that Autism is not an illness, and that supporting an Autistic loved one should be about understanding and meeting their support needs and not forcing them into neurotypical norms.
It came across as a crash course in neurodivergence, and many of the ideas and beliefs I've discovered in the community here were reflected in it. And that makes me incredibly hopeful for the future of neurodivergent folks. ❤️