The Autism Social Contagion Caught Her. Then She Got Out. | Ep. 20 with Christina Buttons

When Christina Buttons was 30, she was diagnosed with autism—and felt immediate relief. The diagnosis explained her teenage mental health crises, her social difficulties, her sense that something about her was just "off." She joined the online autism community, started advocating, and built an identity around it.

Then she started reporting on it. And what she found made her question the diagnosis itself.

In this conversation, Christina walks through the broadening of the DSM criteria, the "female autism phenotype," social camouflaging, and how a clinical disorder became a social identity that almost anyone can adopt. We get into the pipeline from autism to gender dysphoria, why both diagnoses share the same demographic, and what happens to the kids with profound autism when the label expands to cover everyone.

Then we go to California — where Gavin Newsom has restructured Medi-Cal so federal mental health dollars now fund housing, groceries, drum circles, and "radical inclusivity." Where schools have become psychiatric clinics. Where a 12-year-old can receive a diagnosis and ongoing therapy without their parents ever being told. And where the line between mental health treatment and progressive activism has been deliberately erased.

Christina's reporting at City Journal and the Manhattan Institute is some of the most important work being done on this beat. This is one of those conversations you’ll think about for weeks afterward.