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Autism isn’t a straight line and nor are the experiences of autistic people, so why do we still talk about there being a “spectrum”? This commonly-used term has shaped thinking for decades, but many autistic people and researchers say it no longer reflects reality.
Autism expert Aimee Grant explains why it may be time to move beyond the spectrum. She argues that dividing autism into levels or categories risks doing more harm than good, and that clearer language is needed instead.
Meanwhile, the latest The Conversation Weekly podcast looks at how the rise in autism cases may be linked to a change in how it is diagnosed.
Also today, why pub psychic nights are more than just entertainment. And a philosopher considers why so many countries and companies want to be the first to send different objects into space.
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Siriol Griffiths
Wales Editor
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Autism traits cannot be neatly divided up in a linear fashion.
Abudzaky/Shutterstock
Aimee Grant, Swansea University
The idea of autism as a single spectrum has shaped thinking for decades. But many autistic people and researchers now argue the metaphor is misleading.
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Breanna P/Shutterstock
Josh Bullock, Kingston University; Caroline Starkey, University of Leeds
Psychic nights hold meaning for many, particularly working-class women.
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Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster, with Earth in background.
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Tony Milligan, University of Sheffield
From temples and ashes to cars and AI, humans are populating space with beloved items.
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World
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Andrew Nickson, University of Birmingham
Paraguay is the Latin American country most strongly aligned with the foreign policy of the Trump administration.
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Pavan Mano, King's College London
Singaporean nationalism produces exclusion mainly through maintaining a set of heterosexual familial norms.
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Jonathan Este, The Conversation
Marwan Barghouti has been in an Israeli prison for more than two decades.
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Arts + Culture
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Christina Faraday, University of Cambridge
A new book examines art made for the royal court and increasing numbers of ‘middling’ professionals, who embraced art and material objects to mark their new-found status in society.
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Leanne Calvert, University of Limerick
The Presbyterian church closely regulated the intimate lives of its members through a system of church court discipline.
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Education
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Johny Daniel, Durham University
Inclusion cannot mean simply placing pupils with educational needs and disabilities in the same room with their peers.
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Health
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Dipa Kamdar, Kingston University
From peppermint to cumin, research suggests these herbs and spices could help soothe your digestive system.
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Yael Benn, Manchester Metropolitan University
Acalculia affects the way a person processes and understands numbers.
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Catia Nicodemo, Brunel University of London
Not every hospital serves the same demographic.
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Science + Technology
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Benjamin Gardner, University of Surrey; Amanda L. Rebar, University of South Carolina
And how you can use psychology to help you break out of the habits you want to lose.
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Podcasts
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Gemma Ware, The Conversation
Autism expert Andrew Whitehouse speaks to The Conversation Weekly podcast about how the diagnosis of autism has shifted since the 1990s and what’s that meant for autistic people.
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