Amanda Seales Claps Back at Reactions to Her Autism Diagnosis Reveal on "Club Shay Shay"
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Activist and comedian Amanda Seales got on Instagram on Thursday night to discuss the Black media and social media reaction to her recent autism diagnosis. The “Insecure” star specifically called out a post from the outlet Baller Alert.
“[Baller Alert] wants to suggest that because my autism diagnosis did not come from a clinician that it is not valid,” she said on Instagram. “What’s not valid is people speaking on things that they don’t know about.”
Seales went on to tell the internet to back-off. “My autism diagnosis is not for you all to discuss, it’s not for you to debate,” said Seales.
Seales shared the news about her diagnosis during her three-hour long conversation with football star Shannon Sharpe for his podcast “Club Shay Shay. ”
Seales explained to Sharpe that her diagnosis has helped her better understand herself and shift her negative self-perspective. “When you take the test you’re like hold’up,” said the comedian, “I’ve been thinking my whole life that this was a problem.”
She said that some of her behaviors finally clicked, like her need to doodle for example. “The fact that I have to be doing things all of the time to be stimulated,” said Seales. “It’s literally called stimming.”
“These are small things that are indicative of like your brain functions in a very particular way. It’s also atypical to the way our society functions.”
Twitter/X has a lot to say about Seales’ revelations — including a large swath of support from people who appreciate her bravery in speaking out.
Amanda Seales discussed her diagnosis on the autism spectrum, particularly among Black women. I've always felt I might have autism too, but I've never been formally diagnosed.
— Jaikal Create 📸🎥🎬 (@jaikalphotos) April 25, 2024
Amanda Seales announcing she has autism is a very good thing for Autism Acceptance. TBH the signs were evident and I hope that more Black Women seek an official diagnosis.
— Dr. La Shawn Paul, DSW, LCSW-R (@TheSWDiva) April 19, 2024
Several people came for Sharpe for questioning Seales’ diagnosis, among other things she discussed in the interview.
AMANDA SEALES / SHANNON SHARPE 🍿
Shannon Sharpe must’ve thought that he was interviewing Amanda Bynes or Amanda Perez , because he was not prepared for Amanda SEALES
He lowkey fought her on everything and she had a lot of patience because I was looking at the interview like… pic.twitter.com/4YqTT7o2Ib— BERET ZAY 👨🏽🎨 (@Isaiah_Jaay) April 25, 2024
Shannon Sharpe challenging Amanda Seales’ autism diagnosis is the reason why so many people on the spectrum do not tell people about their diagnosis. Just because a person does not seem autistic to you in the few minutes you’re around them, does not mean they do not have autism.
— B🎀 (@brianaray_) April 25, 2024
However, several are also questioning if Seales was formally diagnosed with autism or if she self-diagnosed. In an Instagram Live, following the interview, Seales said that she had not been “clinically diagnosed by a doctor.”
So the person who blamed their social issues on a recently discovered diagnoses ain't actually been diagnosed?
I'm shocked. pic.twitter.com/C4jxg46Ts0— Naima Cochrane (@naima) April 25, 2024
I’m trying my best not to tag in but…
It does not cost $10k to be diagnosed. At the most THE MOST it’s $5k and can be done for a co-pay in most instances. Also, a lot of therapy clinics know the importance of testing so they “figure out” a way to do it cost effectively. https://t.co/CE0AvpzAD3— Bassey Ikpi (@Basseyworld) April 25, 2024
During the interview, Seales noted that Black women tend to have a harder time getting a diagnosis and culturally relevant support for a myriad of reasons. For one thing, as an article in The 19th explains, Black women and girls are generally excluded from autism research.
In fact, the research tends to exclude Black people and women all-together, meaning we don’t have a good sense of how autism manifests in people who aren’t white men.
As for Seales, the diagnosis appears to have helped her understand herself better, and that’s a win!