[lazyatom]

> By this I mean that the existence of my consciousness does not depend on other observers perceiving me to be conscious.

The author doesn't recognise that they are an observer of their own consciousness; I would go further and say that consciousness _requires_ the conscious _thing_ to be an observer of themselves.

So, for me, the whole axiom "consciousness does not require an observer" is reversed.

[V-2]

It does not require an external observer. I believe the author does acknowledge it, writing "because consciousness is independent of EXTERNAL observers" (emphasis mine) or, even in the sentence that you quoted, "does not depend on OTHER observers".