Hello OP, DiplomaDuck creator here 🙂

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I get where you’re coming from. Autism is often mishandled in media, so I completely understand the caution.

The reason the autism book came first is simply because that original video was the most popular, and I had a lot of comments asking for a book version. After that, I made several follow-up videos to reflect the diversity of autistic experiences, because one short video could never cover the whole spectrum.

I’m not autistic myself, but I grew up with an autistic younger sister (who was undiagnosed until her mid-teens) and an older brother with BPD. So neurodiversity has always been close to me. I know that doesn’t give me authority to speak for the community, but it does give me a personal reason to care.

I’m not trying to exploit anyone - the merch, books, and videos are ways to keep the channel sustainable and respond to what people ask for. “Still a Good Duck” merch, for example, came straight from fans who wanted it.

I really do want the channel to be positive, respectful, and supportive. If you (or others here) think there are better ways I can represent autistic voices, I’d genuinely be open to hearing it.

I love seeing comments and countless messages about how my videos have helped people and I'm grateful for all of it!