"You don't seem autistic" That's because I've spent my entire goddamn life trying to act and sound like you, because having no meaningful differences is a requirement to being treated with respect in this culture!
Sometimes people say that without being accusing, like they're just processing the information and learning what it means that autism is a spectrum. But even then, it's so hard not to be irrationally pissed when I hear that.
Way too relatable. I'm very hesitant to tell people about my ASD exactly because even if they do believe at me, they always start acting different afterwards. Not even necessarily infantalisation, just different.
I'm just lucky to be high-funtioning enough that I can pass off my social ineptitude as a result of being highly introverted (which is half true), and my tics aren't very noticible to those who don't know me very well.
My youngest sibling is severely autistic and when I first learned about autism in my early 20’s I also expected everyone else who had it to be as bad as him. I’ve learned that’s not always the case and there is a lot we still don’t really understand about it overall. Myself especially.
For educational purposes what is a more expected/desired response from a nuerotypical person?
"oh, okay." is generally a good bet, then if the person wants to they can expand on any special needs they have.
Like if someone's physically disabled you'd be rude to make a big deal out of it, you just acknowledge that it is what it is and try to accommodate for it.
"Oh cool! Are there any particular triggers we should know about, like loud noise?"
Autism and its effects can differ greatly from person to person, such that the 'rules' for dealing with one person might not apply to another.
In the context of revealing your autism, many will not do so simply out of hand because of insert response from OP's post. Usually the only reasons many high functioning autists will even reveal it to someone they do not trust is because they either have to (eg: there is the potential for the presence of a meltdown trigger, reasonable accommodation requests at work) or they're relating to someone with their own disabilities.
I had this happen with my friend group lol. None of them were surprised. I was.
You need another pair where they don’t give a shit, because guess what?
Yee. "Everyone is a bit autistic" and "autism is an infinite spectrum" really piss me off. Like, I have real symptoms. Trichotillomania and auditory meltdowns and hyperfocus are real things I deal with, people.
In the end, if you don't share (some or more) symptoms, you don't share a diagnosis— medical or mental. Autism needs to be understood so autistic people can get support and tools. If that means we need more-specific words than just "autism", then that's just how it is.
Frankly being hot seems to be a predictor for autism, i presume because e.g. routine workouts is a significant part of attractiveness and ooh did you say routine?
So autistic people love routines more than neurotypicals? I've been called autistic a few times, but I also have no routines, and my life's a mess, maybe routines would fix everything?
Well, there are also people who are autistic and have ADHD which is super fun because one part of your brain craves routines and the other one can't stick to them. Don't ask how I know.
It's not guaranteed, autistic people just generally tend to like order and routine more.
I have "light" autism and i tend to do things the same way every time, e.g. when eating i cut everything into bite sizes and eat in a specific order, otherwise it just feels wrong.
I personally find exercise fucking amazing, by getting exhausted i can both get stronger and more attractive, AND i get to eat more! holy shit yes please.
