@Duna ,
Given my background in medicine, I have always approached autism from the medical model,...the primary behaviors core to an autism condition are as a result of the anatomy and physiology. The psychological and psychiatric conditions are downstream effects. Furthermore, like any other organ in the body, the heart, the lungs, kidneys, liver,...and the brain, may have anatomical and physiological features that are as a result of genetics,...autism being one example of many. So, with my background, I don't treat autism as if it has any sort of stigma attached to it,...it is what it is. I know that is not the case with many people and how they treat anyone else who is "different", whatever that may be. Now, I can say,
"Well, that's their problem, not mine." However, all too often with us,...they make it our problem,...and that's where the difficulties start.
"I am not disabled,...it's not like I am paralyzed from the neck down with a spinal cord injury,...but you, your actions, your expectations, this environment,...you're disabling me."
Now, how is it that many of us older autistics (50+ year olds) held jobs, lived our lives and frankly, were not diagnosed until fairly recently? The wrong answer was that we didn't have autism,...that was reserved for severely debilitated children and residents of psychiatric facilities. The right answer is that we did have an autism variant with a higher intellect to learn how to hide our autistic behaviors,...and "no" we didn't have a professional therapist to help. We learned under threat of punishment from our parents, and through life experiences. As far a sensory conditions,...frankly, I had just enough social and communication issues to not ask if anyone else experienced their world like I did.
"What? You mean everyone doesn't have 5 frequencies of tinnitus? Everyone doesn't have a visual field of pixelated dots and light flashes, awake, asleep, eyes closed? Others can't hear all that high-pitched noise and hear electricity humming in the walls?" So, I wasn't diagnosed until 52 years old.
But more to your point and my point here. We need to stop "fixing" people because they are different. We are here,...deal with it. However,...I don't see society making the types of meaningful changes that allow us to be the types of productive citizens that we could be. One of the things that makes life worth living is a sense of purpose,...and being responsible for something gives many of us purpose. Take that away,...I am not sure what there is to live for,...and from some of the posts on this forum,...that has happened to some of us. It's tragic. So, I think the best step for psychologists and physicians to take is really find out what it is that is holding us back,...then address each issue head on. For some, it may be anxiety and stress,...well, there are specific ways to train the mind and body to deal with it,...in healthy ways. If left unchecked, it will become a medical condition,...high blood pressure, high blood sugar, vascular disease, cancers, immune dysfunction,...it will flat out kill you. I work in a very, very stressful environment,...I have discovered ways to handle it. I can handle ALOT of discomfort and still function. Whatever our specific issues are,...and no two of us are exactly the same,...we need to focus upon the mind-body connection and work on those,...adapt and overcome. We also need to not be so sensitive and be a bit more disagreeable,...stand up for ourselves when we are clearly being faced with BS. For example, there are "bad bosses" everywhere,...and he/she may have hired you because he/she may have sensed the type of personality "weakness" that would allow them to run "roughshod" over you,...because you won't complain for fear of being fired. Well, that is what I call BS. On the other hand, if you walk into a job interview with the approach that YOU are doing THEM a favor,...that power dynamic changes. You are less likely to be dealing with a "bad boss".
I can go on and on here. An autism condition need not be "fixed", but there may be situations where we still need some help to deal with the specific issues that seem to be holding us back in this world. I don't expect the world to change, I just think a different mindset and approach to autism is needed though,...from ourselves.