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“Autistic people”? Who do you mean?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2019

Yonata Levy Open the ORCID record for Yonata Levy [Opens in a new window]
Yonata Levy*
Affiliation:
Psychology Department and Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical School, Hebrew University, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel 9190501. yonatalevy@gmail.com
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Abstract

Jaswal & Akhtar (J&A) offer evidence against lack of social motivation in “autistic people,” providing no further phenotypic details as to the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) subgroups that they refer to. I will argue that given the extensive behavioral and neurobiological heterogeneity among people who receive the diagnosis, reference to “autistic people” is misleading. As a consequence, J&A's claims are difficult to interpret.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e97
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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