Em Rusciano says taking autistic kids to occupational therapy is as bad as ‘conversion therapy’ because it suppresses their true personalities
Podcaster Em Rusciano has spoken out against the use of occupational therapy to treat childhood autism, comparing it to “conversion therapy.”
The 44-year-old, who has an autistic son and was recently diagnosed with level one autism herself, made the comments about pediatrician Podcast from Doctor Golly this week.
The media personally admitted that she is concerned that her four-year-old son Elio is engaged in occupational therapy and does not want him to be taught to “hide” his autism.
“I find myself really struggling with that in a way because it feels a little bit like conversion therapy,” she explained.
“It kind of feels like we’re saying to autistic kids, ‘I’m going to teach you the ways of neurotypicals, because that’s the right way.’ And I don’t like that,” she continued.
Podcaster Em Rusciano has spoken out against the use of occupational therapy to treat autism in children, comparing it to ‘conversion therapy’
The media privately admitted that she is concerned about her autistic four-year-old son Elio who attends occupational therapy and does not want him taught to “hide” his autism
She went on to say she didn’t want Elio to “learn a social script” or how to make small talk because it would suppress his true personality.
‘Why are we teaching him small talk? Small talk is exhausting. Autistic people go straight to the heart,” she said.
A stunned Dr. Golly replied, “Well, that turns autism treatment on its head.”
Em continued, “I want Elio to be the best autistic person he can be. I don’t want him taught to hide it.
Don’t let autistic kids conform. Why don’t we get the neurotypical children to conform to the norms of autistic children?’
The 44-year-old, who has an autistic son and was recently diagnosed with level one autism herself, made the comments this week on pediatrician Dr. Golly
A stunned Dr. Golly replied, “Well, that turns autism management on its head!”
Em recently explained why her autism and ADHD have become more visible since she was formally diagnosed with a developmental disability.
In a video shared to Instagram last month, she said she has “masked” her autistic behavior her whole life and finally feels free to express her true self.
“If you’re late diagnosed with ADHD, autistic, you may run into people saying you suddenly act more autistic or act more ADHD,” she began in the clip.
“I’m going to give you a reason for that. So all our life there have been two planes that we have existed on. What actually went on in our heads and what we did with our bodies to mask and fit in,” Em continued.
“And that’s what makes us so exhausted and unwell. So when we get this diagnosis, we realize we don’t want the two planes. We want our minds and bodies to match,” she added.
Em recently explained why her autism and ADHD have become more visible since she was formally diagnosed with a developmental disability, claiming she no longer needs to “mask” her symptoms
So we started giving ourselves permission to drop that mask and close the gap between our bodies and our heads. And that’s why you suddenly start behaving more like you really feel.
“And you’re not actually performing an act, you’re actually more yourself than ever in your life,” the singer concluded.
It comes after Em shot down false claims earlier this year that she was ‘faking’ autism for attention.
In a lengthy statement on Facebook, Em outlined how “heavy-duty masking” of her symptoms helped her cope, but also made it less obvious to outsiders that she was struggling.