The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

• Draw attention on the disproportionate prevalence of eating orders among women & girls on the spectrum.
• Define, from first-hand experience, the unique psychological lure eating disorders (like anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge eating disorder) and other methods of self-harm have to the female members of our community.
• Identify the primary underlying need being served by disordered eating, and provide a route toward sustainable emotional and physical health.

If looks don’t matter, why the constant chatter among women that having a cookie is “being bad,” or teenage girls’ certainty that losing anextra five pounds is the only thing standing between their loneliness,anxiety, self-harm…and happiness. Of course, anorexia, binge eating,and bulimia are hardly exclusive to the world of autism. But. Women and girls on the spectrum are neurologically for the seduction. An artificial sense of control, perfection— a penchant for facts and rigid, self-made rules. They hold a special lure for our notoriously perfectionistic, perseverating minds. We’re naturally inclined to focus on parts. To dissect rather than see the whole.

Unfortunately, that tendency includes micro-examining ourselves - including our bodies - seeing only defective, “fixable” pieces instead ofa whole, imperfectly perfect person. It’s no wonder that eating disorders are so rampant - so commonplace - within our community. In this unorthodox presentation, Aspie, author, and recovered anorexic, Jennifer O’Toole, will explain why, above all, eating disorders have nothing to do with food. We'll discover that, instead, they are an easily disguised form of self-harm -- emotional distraction from constant anxiety, and from not-fitting in. They are manipulation of power and control over our bodies, getting in the way of healthy self-examination and real emotional awareness.

From first-hand knowledge, Jennifer will share what it is to grapple withan eating disorder, why the experience is more of a spectrum norm than an exception, and present unique ways we can all confront, experience, and cope with the very real moments of our very real lives.