@amara.oceana
Autonomy is a nebulous concept,...much like freedom. Autonomy, much like freedom, is often given by societies, governments,...family,...an employer, etc. So, it may be important to discuss at what critical point does the
"lack of autonomy" within those perspectives and contexts, create significant barriers to one's
"well-being".
Furthermore, how autism presents itself is highly variable. Some mix of genetics and/or gene transcription at the earliest stages of fetal development result in a highly variable, sometimes global, and often regional alterations in neuron formation and migration. That said, there is a large population of autistics that do not have significant barriers to autonomy. In fact, one of the most influential people in our world right now,...Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX,...is autistic. Some of the greatest minds in history,...Tesla, Einstein, Galeleo, Newton,...and a long list of others,...by all accounts, presented with autistic traits. The point being,...once again, at what critical point do certain autistic symptoms create significant barriers to autonomy? However, another perspective,...it is not uncommon to have family dysfunction,...toxic, controlling behaviors from certain family members. Family issues are commonly discussed on the forums. It is not uncommon for parents of
"special needs" children to overprotect their children to the point where they actually inhibit their potential. I've worked at one of largest children's hospitals in the US for the better part of 35 years,...some of those parents can be real
"pieces of work" and intentionally and unintentionally cause harm from a psychological, psychiatric, and even physical perspective. Psychologically and psychiatrically, if one is told "you are less than", "you don't do this or that well", the gaslighting, the bullying, the enabling,...your entire life,...you are likely to incorporate this into your thinking. It's a form of "brain washing" that makes you think you can't do something, before you've even tried,...so you never make the attempt,...or you make a "half-hearted" effort, fail, and confirm your bias. In effect, you create a lack of autonomy for yourself. On the other hand, I can go on and on with examples of "severely disabled" autistics that have extraordinary talents and abilities,...some have personal assistants and caregivers,...but at what point does a lack of autonomy affect their well-being? Many autistics have "work arounds",...alternative ways of doing things in order to perform their daily life and work activities.
There's a lot of layers to this presentation to consider. Good luck.
