Dame Uta archetypal expressed her views successful an interrogation with the Times Educational Supplement successful March. The NAS reacted to it successful beardown terms.
It wrote a blog station astir "false narratives and outdated ideas", "misinformation" and "false claims".
Dame Uta says it's "just wrong" to disregard her similar this.
The NAS says anyone with an autism diagnosis volition person been assessed against strict criteria and "have lifelong differences successful communication, behaviours and focused interests compared to non-autistic people".
Dr Sue Smith, the NAS's caput of objective services, says: "We've got a radical of radical with a genuine need. We're having this weird statement astir what they should beryllium called."
She says this isn't conscionable an world enactment but has existent implications for autistic people: "Historically a batch of radical who weren't decently identified arsenic autistic were fixed different truly unhelpful labels", specified arsenic borderline property upset oregon bipolar.
She worries that re-labelling immoderate autistic radical could pb to them losing support.
Dr Monique Botha, an subordinate prof of science astatine Durham University, criticised Dame Uta's sentiment utilizing curse words.
Botha is autistic and stands by her reaction: "A batch of radical were understandably upset and angry… I inactive am.
"Researchers person a work to beryllium a spot much blunt and upfront astir however damaging these kinds of things tin be."
Botha feels that Dame Uta's ideas adhd to a communicative that "there's immoderate magical casual autism wherever you're conscionable quirky, wherever everything successful your beingness volition yet enactment out, and you're conscionable utilizing this arsenic a crutch truthful that you tin consciousness special, and it trivialises the world of a full clump of people".
Botha says autistic radical are agreed by cardinal features: sensory sensitivity, a request for predictability, aggravated interests and struggles with communication.
"That doesn't mean that we volition person the aforesaid lives oregon the aforesaid outcomes."
James Fitzpatrick was diagnosed successful the 1990s, and doesn't speak. His father, Dr Michael Fitzpatrick, is simply a retired GP.
English (US)·