Are Friends Autistic?

OK so Gary Numan "Came out" on national television (Well, Sky News anyway) about how autism affects his life. https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/911470487833686022

Cue a rather scathing tweet from Sunday Times columnist Camilla Long:

At first it would seem a tad Katie Hopkins of her to put the word "Autistic" in quotes. From the reader's point of view, this would be perceived to be saying that Numan is NOT autistic and judging by the replies to that tweet, Ms Long seems to have made a few enemies. At first glance it also has the feel of a "He doesn't look autistic" kind of statement.

I'll make no pretence about my dislike of these columnists and others that seem to want to put the boot into anyone different to themselves. To target anyone with any kind of difference is not cool in my book. However, Ms Long (and I say this begrudgingly,) has a point. As far as I'm aware, and I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, Gary Numan does not currently have a diagnosis for any type of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Hence the quotes around the word "Autistic" and the fact she says it's an insult to real sufferers.

So why does Numan not have a diagnosis? Well I myself went undiagnosed until I was 42 and it took me quite some time before I even started to seek a diagnosis (plus over a year in the system waiting for it). Higher function autism was generally not a commonly diagnosed thing when I was younger, hence it being missed until recent years. He also mentions Aspergers, which has generally now been replaced with ASD thanks to changes in the way diagnoses are made.

In my opinion, being undiagnosed does not necessarily make one un-autistic (in a way, the way he has come out talking about it leads me to believe he may well be autistic - They do say that it takes one to know one).

I will however, applaud Gary for bringing a number of things that many autistics face every day to the table and using a national platform to do so is highly commendable. If nothing else, he's shown that he understands autistic traits only too well which makes him, if nothing else a true advocate.

Gary I salute you.

PS. Gary, if you haven't sought a diagnosis yet, I believe you really should do. Just my opinion.

~Simon~