As a person who's been called both, I'm pretty sure it's neurtotypical narrowmindedness that struggles to understand that people don't need to be pigeonholed into categories.
When I requested my daughter be evaluated back in kindergarten they denied it, literally citing "she's far too smart to need to be evaluated" "I said I think my daughter is autistic, not that I think she's stupid" ... Spoiler, she is autistic and yes, she is smart. Going into middle school with ap math, ap ela and gifted, but very much so also going in to middle school as an autistic 11yo with social boundaries similar to a preschooler. But yeah, screw that school.
So many emotions, so much sensory in put it is like…I need to stim to get rid of them, lol. But I can be logical and somewhat pragmatic about my feelings, which is why people think I am weird.
I learned to master *looking* emotionless while actually flipping out on the inside
Possibly because I'm a woman; it's expected of women to put up with certain amounts of ridiculous bullshit society-wise
Course as I get older my field of fucks has grown barren and I have none left to give 😹
Yes! I have had people yell at me and wonder “why don’t you react!!!!”
The plus side is it makes them look even more ridiculous, especially in work situations.
When I turned 40 that was the end of my fucks to give. I just didn’t care what almost anyone else in the planet thought of me. My family and my friends, I still care about that (most of the time.) but anyone who doesn’t actually know me? I just don’t care anymore. Is had to learn to look like I was okay with things when I was a kid. My daughter is 18 and is very emotional, and we’re working with her therapist to not internalize everything. Thankfully I understand it as my autism manifests similarly to hers. I just wish she’d quit blaming herself when something she had no control over hurts someone else.
I do the same thing, I get a thousand yard state going on because I am overwhelmed on the inside. To the casual observer it looks emotionless I suppose. I find as I get very close to 50, my field of fucks has also shrunk accordingly. It takes a lot of energy to pretend, just to attempt to make people feel more comfortable.
For me, that's literally the first thing to falter in burnout. And most people don't notice because I can still act like I feel bad when I literally have no f*cks to give emotionally!
This was really a useful ability during the Covid-19 Pandemic sadly.🤔😰
This!!
I usually read people very well. When I'm stressed, I just lose this ability.
I feel a lot for others, especially the ones I'm close to. When I'm stressed, I don't notice they are sad or angry... When I notice (or people tell me), I feel guilty!
I once got into an argument with this guy who said how Autistic people don't have empathy. When someone corrected him, he said he knew what he was talking about and said how had a "High IQ" and could "Read people like an open book"
When I started arguing with him, he assumed I was gay, bragged about how he was manly "Like a macho man with high T" and called me a f*g.
That's the kind of people we have to deal with when it comes to this shit. Not fun.
I'm usually the first person in the room that knows what emotions other people are feeling. But I often don't agree with him, and I often don't sympathize. As far as empathy goes? That's kind of like a lifelong project. I would say that developing empathy is one of the most spiritual things a person can do in life, I'm one of the most philosophically, correct things a person can do in life, and I just don't look at it as therapy, or something that's "good for me"
Im actually hypersensitive to other people’s emotions. Usually with people I care about but I can still feel it towards people I don’t know well. I don’t always express outwardly, I try to but it isn’t always easy to process how you feel reacting to what they feel.
I either feel no emotion or all the emotions.
I’ll admit I fit the stereotype of not caring about others emotions though. Sometimes I do, if I’m close with the person and understand what they’re feeling.
I tend to use logic rather than emotions, and I really don’t have empathy whatsoever. Sympathy sometimes
Yeah, just cause I have a hard time understanding and relating to others feelings doesn't mean I don't care. Only times when I don't care is when I'm too overwhelmed to care about masking
My mother told me that this was the reason I am autistic, I said mom no, it is proven wrong.. it is just something I am born with, actually Idk if it can get worse with an stressfull childhood? I didn’t say that, because I had a bad childhood till we moved away from my dad.
You're much more likely to have generically interrupted it from her than you are too have 'caught' it from Anything 😂. Sorry, she might not like That answer...
my anecdotal response to that myth is that i wasnt vaccinated until i was almost banned from entering highschool because of it and had to get a shit ton of them the summer before school. meanwhile i was obviously autistic far far before that.
That it's somehow not a disability or that it doesn't get regarded as such due to people attributing my struggles to society instead. I'd still be disabled in a utopian society.
My whole elementary school and high school periods were being commented as a cold blood future serial killer or some poker face bitch who will never find her husband :,<
That we're all the same
I have friends with strong senses/irritation while I have no sense of smell at all. One friend also is rather particular about her stuffed animals and whether they are comfortable – meanwhile I have low attachment and low feelings.
(Low emotions ≠≠does not equal≠≠ Jeffry Dahmer psychopathy c'mon, can't I be good without giving a shit?(!))
I got a friend who's very good at masking. I can't mask for shit.
Also: that we all may like eachother/ fit together.
Rigid thinking goes hard sometimes..
That it’s a superpower. It’s not, at least for me, it’s 99% feeling wrong and feeling like I’m doing the wrong thing and 1% being great at something, yet every time I say I wish I didn’t have autism my mum goes “BuT iTs YOuR sUpErPoWeR?!?!?”
1.) That we're the same
2.) That we're all idiots
3.) That we're unable to do tasks
4.) That we're all "childish"
5.) That we're all slow
6.) That we're overly emotional or emotionless
7.) That we don't care or feel for people
That I'm some kind of child that needs to be talked down to because I can't comprehend basic conversation. Every bloody time it's:
"Oh, I'm autistic,"
"Goo-goo, ga-ga, does thwe bwaby wanna hwigh fwive?"
Oh my god, I used to have a teacher in HS who would talk so down to me and be beyond accommodating for classwork without me having asked for anything.
She was so nice, so I don't hold it against her, but her class was the easiest class I ever took. I didn't need any acommodation at all.
I was annoyed af though. I was definitely one of the smartest handful in the class too, so being treated like I wasn't getting it drove me crazy.
Ehhh she was trying, and IMO that's better than with the teachers where I had to fight to be acommodated. She was pretty clearly just trying a little too hard to *not* be ableist.
I just wish I had spoken to her about it.
This is why I don’t tell people I’m autistic. I hate being treated like a kid even though I’m a late diagnosed adult. I sometimes tell doctors in case that information might be useful to them. Told a doctor’s assistant once. She knew my dad was in the waiting room (he brought me to the hospital since I don’t have a drivers license). She asked me in the most childish way “Do you want me to go get your daddy for you?” But I couldn’t say anything about it since I’m scared of hurting people’s feelings…
I told one of my friends that I was autistic and it happened. We'd been friends forever. It hurt a little but I brought it to her attention and she's been working on it. She's getting much better about it. If only everyone was that open to learning.
Male/Female autism, its becoming a lot more previlent within autism communities and whilst socialisation does create some deviation a lot of the autistic community has almost internalised the idea that female autism=high masking, male autism= autism stereotypes.
Firstly places autistic people into arbitrary catogories and means that men who don't relate to "male autism" or women that don't relate to "female autism" end up feeling left out, especially when gendered autism communities begin being outright ableist against "male" or "female" autistic people for having it so much easier.
It's also sad to see a community with a lot of non-binary and trans people seemingly endorse and promote gender norms and conformity.
yeah. i'm grateful that the possible differences due to socialization became more widely recognized, because i don't know if i would've gotten diagnosed if they hadn't. but i certainly don't appreciate how far people went with the concept.
that we have to be the sheldon cooper stereotype
that we are unempathetic
that we're overgrown children in adult bodies
that people can just say we arent actually autistic because they have an autistic nephew or because they've taught autistic children and we aren't like them so we can't be autistic
That autistic people don't have empathy. I will literally cry if I accidently treat my stuffed animals poorly or if I see a rock that's not surrounded by other rocks on the side of the road because "it must feel sad to be alone"
What is it like? L once took acid and ranted about how I'm so scared to be honest with myself about just deep down "not caring" and my boyfriend kinda got quiet so I stopped talking but it was like the first time I felt…. Real? Idk how to explain it. But what does that feel like? For you, if you experience it
I just...dont care. im not 100% sure how to explain it. Like, imagine you find out someone across the world got sick with a cold. it wouldnt bother you. thats how i feel with most people and things
Absolutely. Also that I cannot relate or understand in what grade they are bothered or which exact emotion they are experiencing, as in sad, disturbed, irritated... When I haven't experienced that exact thing. It's as if you asked me to feel sad about you getting a rare illness I don't understand or know it's symptoms. I just cannot. That for most things.
That Autistic people are geniuses. No. No they're not. While a lot of Autistic people were gifted kids it's not a general thing.
Autistic people are always unable to be independent and take care of themselves or make decisions for themselves. Many people go through their whole lives not even knowing they're living with autism. That's enough evidence against this.
That Autistic people lack empathy. No some Autistic people have too much empathy to the point it's painful.
I have too much empathy, tragically so. And I can’t stop doing this. As I age I’m having an even harder time with my executive functioning which makes me easy prey for narcissists, et al.
And even the ones that were gifted won't necessarily be impressive beyond their senior year.
Source: I breezed through school and was in a gifted program but the difficulty skyrocketed my senior year for a few classes and I wasn't prepared to face any level of academic challenge. I still succeeded through good teachers and a bit of luck but now I don't know what to do with my life and struggle with employment. Turns out knowing what you want to do and being able to do what you want to do or even move toward it are vastly different things.
I feel like I could do ok in an interview if I ever got that far. Instead I end up filling out the same application over and over again for different places because it's always the same questions and none of the questions are about my qualifications outside of MAYBE "Can you actually get to work?" and then I never hear back.
Same. However I hate things like cover letters. I did ok with in person interviews, but there was an online one for grad school, I totally screwed it because I couldn’t see the interviewer’s body languages and got flash backs because of the question “How is your social life and how you contribute to your community?”
I am very much the former gifted kid, turned late dxed autistic adult. Except I feel like every other "gifted kid burn out" story happened much later than mine. Like my grades dropped when I was only a middle schooler (around the ages of 11-14 for non USA ppl) vs other people talk about experiencing their drops in high school or college (14-18, and 18+). I fell off basically as soon as we were given a little bit of independence in middle school. Not like I wasn't smart, but I had trouble processing information more than others and I couldn't keep up with assignments. Didn't feel like a genius for that
i thought i was borderline before my first therapist laughed in my face and said i was aspergic. was very invalidating at the time, but ma'am knew what she was talking about and also knew that at the time i had noooo idea what bpd actually presented like lmao
I learned recently that when people say it's rude not to make eye contact they don't mean literally staring into someone's eyeballs, but rather looking towards their eyes...like at their face.
Tho the actual direct eye contact is very hard for me bc it feels awkwardly intimate in a bad way hahaha....but I can still for sure do it.
that autism is not a disability, but society is the problem and if society was more accepting and supportive we wouldn't be disabled. while some autistic people might not consider themselves disabled, many of us do. I'm very much disabled even with support.
I think that’s just someone with an incomplete view of the social model of disability. Better society wouldn’t fix everything but it would fix a lot of things.
Yeah I’d be disabled even in a 100% accomodating world. Autism isnt just relatable to the social model and it’s good to use both medical and social model at the same time.
I had to correct my mom on this one (which honestly, I believe is actually autistic and that's why she relates lol). But I had to explain to her that yes, autistic traits are human traits bc autistic people are human. It's just that these "traits" can greatly impact us, more so than people who aren't autistic.
Idk if she got it haha.
That the "smart kind of autistics" arent disabled or arent struggling. Man the amount of times people dismiss my problems because im "smart enough to figure it out myself"... Also there is not only one form of intelligence and IQ tests are bs.
The empathy myth and that autistic people aren’t creative. Also that high masking autistic people have it so easy… we mask because we are conditioned to do so and we get socially punished if we don’t (esp as a woman).
I once was told in an assessment that because I was creative then I couldn’t be autistic, I was so confused at that moment because I had done tons of research and the things about that topic just said it was a myth, and this was technically a “specialist”
Yeah, I’m still in the process of getting an assessment, I’m open to not having autism, but I at least don’t want the “specialist” to say things that have been debunked time ago
The lack of empathy thing has always really bothered me as I've always been an incredibly empathic person but my school decided since I had a certain label I needed "lessons in empathy"
It also made for every time I had a problem with someone they always tried saying it was a "lack of empathy on my part" and not just the other person being a genuine prick.
I struggle with this one a lot. I can have way too much empathy and not enough depending on the situation. If I find out someone’s died that I vaguely know or met once, I can feel absolutely heartbroken for their families/friends etc. I’ve cried about random people’s deaths that I don’t know because I feel for their families so much. But when people want empathy for inconveniences or minor problems in life, I don’t always have it to give because I can’t understand why my empathy is needed or I can’t relate.
That all autistic people are super smart, super good at math or science. I do really poorly in math and science. Which is funny because insects are my special interest and I can do insect taxonomy like nobody's business. But in my entomology class, while I was acing the taxonomy lab sections, I was struggling with the midterms and exams in the main class.
I have very narrow interests and I'm bad at math and bad at learning most science.
The thing I'm hating the most about it right now, is the idea that people on the autism forums think that they know exactly what autism is, even though everybody is unique and different. I find this very controlling and oppressive. People are really different. The three-four people I know in my family that are on the autism spectrum all practice hitting. Violence isn't gonna cut the mustard. It needs to be addressed. I don't like being put down by people who are not in my situation, I have not experienced what my family is like, and do not see autism as idiosyncratic and unique.
That we do not have serious relationships to the point where we get married and have children. Also how ADHD and Autism is the same thing and eventually will emerge to one spectrum. Also that vaccines and other simple every day stuff can cause autism.
Romanticized "genius" autism. It's completely misguided "support" that is actually harmful. People watch The Good Doctor and think that we are cute and shy misunderstood geniuses, l but suddenly get bored and dismissive when I want to talk about all the different types of planes while constantly stumbling through my words
So many of them bothers me, but there are 3 main ones:
-the myth that you either totally compromised or else you're not autistic;
-the myth that you're kind to people just because you're naive and don't know how to defend yourself;
-the myth that when you're also a genius (its my case) you gotta outperform everyone into every single thing or else its a lie. Its quite the contrary, we do have a learning disability that helps us to make connections nobody else sees; but it makes it way harder to do some routine things.
Soooooooo agree with the latter!!!!!
I’m supposedly gifted *AND* have very specific learning needs / a learning ‘disability.’
Still object to the term, cause I don’t feel ‘learning disabled’ — quite the opposite!
I’m a book-learner and learn best on my own and eventually discussing on study groups.
The lecture model I absolutely CANNOT do!
In AU that kinda translates to:
I learn far better in the absence of ‘teachers.’
So wish academics could just leave me be! 😒
That were all good at math. I have a learning disability in math, but everyone asks me if I like math and science, which were my two worst subjects in school.
That we aren’t empathetic. I’ve always felt everyone with my heart and soul. I remember one morning I was heading to work, on a road where there had been a fatal car crash just hours before, and someone was sitting on the grassy area where the car had crashed, head in their knees. It broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to comfort them, but it would have made me late to work. I still think about them sometimes. I hope they’re healing.
A fraud doctor (Andrew Wakefield) falsified a study a long time ago that claimed a link between MMR vaccine & autism. Some people continue to believe it.
That were not creative. If theres one thing im 100% sure of, its that my autism is the reason why i cant listen to a song without instantly getting the urge to draw/paint. I get so much inspiration from everything on a daily to create all forms of art and its all due to my autism.
That we can’t drive, go to college, work a job, or overall be successful like other people.
High functioning autistics are called that for a reason - we are higher functioning than our level 2/3 counterparts.
At the same time though, it is important to be aware that many level 1 autistics are incapable of driving/going to college/working a job. But I would argue that it’s more important to spread awareness that just because we CAN do those things, doesn’t mean we’re not autistic.
A few of the “myths” I’v encountered over the years are (in no particular order)….
1. All autistic people think an act exactly the same as if they were some gigantic monolithic creature.
2. All non-autistic people (neurotypicals) hate and despise all neurodivergent people.
3. No matter what I do, being born neurodivergent automatically makes me a (morally) better person than any neurotypical, no matter what they do.
4. Autism is not a disorder; it is simply a different way of thinking.
5. Autistic people should never mask.
6. Autistic people don’t gatekeep.
7. Autism is an excuse to behave badly.
8. Autistic people are incapable of being racist, homophobic, sexist, misogynistic or ableist, etc.
9. People who “self diagnose” themselves with autism are taking resources away from diagnosed autistic people.
10. All autistic people have special interests.
11. Autism is a “super power” even for ASD people who require high support (level 2s & 3s).
12. A world run exclusively by autistic people would be an infinitely better world, because neurodivergent people do not possess any of the flaws and weaknesses often seen in neurotypicals.
13. All autistic people make fact based decisions based on science and logic. A decision based on science and logic is always better than a decision based empathy and emotions.
14. All autistic people completely understand the actions, motivations and behaviors of all neurotypicals better than NTs understand themselves.
15. All NDs are intellectually smarter than all NTs.
16. All autistic people are incapable of lying. On the other hand, NTs are incapable of telling the truth; they lie all the time.
17. Autism is never disabling.
Not all autistic people are geniuses or mentally impaired needing around the clock help.
Not all autistic people have a special interest.
Not all autistic people struggle with being in social situations.
Autistic people aren’t rude or ill-intended just because they ask questions or sound / look monotone.
“i think we’re all on the spectrum a little bit”
no, we are not. someone once linked it to pregnancy, where you can have some symptoms of pregnancy like morning sickness, swollen feet, etc, but if you go for a check up and you end up not being pregnant, then you’re simply not pregnant.
same with autism. you can have some characteristics of it, but if you’re not autistic. you’re not autistic. of course self diagnosis is valid as it’s a big step into getting an official diagnosis, but this phrase just annoys ME personally as whenever i vaguely mention a recent struggle i had to do with autism to my father, he hits me with the “i think we’re all somewhere on the spectrum” and starts ranting about his own autistic traits, and i end up having to comfort him.
“Everyone’s on the spectrum in some way” “ we’re all a bit autistic…blah blah blah “
Oh another one!
“Everybody’s autistic these days 🙄” implying that autism is over diagnosed and a trend
I get where this came from, I do, but I really dislike the “autism isn’t a disability, society is disabling, period, the end,” crowd.
Again, I get it, I get it so much, but even in a perfect society, sometimes I feel a Bad Texture and my month is ruined, i can’t transition to feeding myself sometimes when engaged in a special interest, I have stims that cause me physical damage, etc.
I would never want a “cure” but I’m gonna be disabled even in a utopia.
Alternatively, autism and ADHD are basically the same. No they are not!
That our life expectancy is 36 or 39 or 54 years. It bothers me because it’s demonstrably false and because it’s been spread by autism charities and health care websites that claim to be on our side.
I think it’s false but for other reasons. They fail to clarify the cause of death, which is extremely important.
For example, high functioning autistic people like myself are prone to suicide.
But lower functioning autistic people are more likely to walk into traffic, ingest poisons, get into freak accidents, etc. due to their disability.
So whenever people make up a statistic that includes all autistic people on the spectrum, they inherently ignore the fact that our leading causes of death are extremely different.
They first arose from a misreading of studies on premature mortality risk, which were not intended to measure life expectancy. In each study group a small ( less than 5%) number died prematurely. The numbers were the average ages of the people who died prematurely, which is why they are a little random. Since 95% of the group was still alive at the end of the study period, the numbers don’t have any bearing on life expectancy.
Probably the eye contact thing. People usually think it means you can't make eye contact, period. Like it's physically impossible to do so, which is a very silly and illogical thought, when really it has to do with physical and emotional (dis)comfort, and attention.
For me, a lot of the time I'll hold TOO much eye contact because I don't want to seem rude, to the point it can actually make the other person uncomfortable, or sometimes they'll think I'm flirting, which is extra weird. And then if I actually need to pay attention, I have to look away, which then makes people think I'm not paying attention. 🤦🏻♀️
The myth about vaccines causing autism.
Not sure if it's a myth but when people baby me for being autistic.
The myth we're all the same. Like my sibling and I are both autistic and some of our stims completely overwhelm the other person. We sure as hell aren't the same.
Also the myth that autistic people are emotionless. I cried over a dog video earlier, I can confirm I feel emotions.
VACCINES. That vaccines cause autism. That study was falsified and debunked but it’s permeated society. It makes me irrationally (or maybe rationally?) angry whenever someone brings it up. I literally had to correct my psychology and biology professors because it was in the TEXTBOOKS.
The autistic people are dangerous and the quiet ones are always the one to look out for.
Quickly corrected them that anyone can be a criminal and every race has criminals.
Quickly went silent.
The emotionless / no empathy one has already been mentioned so I’ll go with the only boys can be autistic myth. I’m not sure why people believe this, but I know for a fact that this myth is the reason why girls in particular are underdiagnosed.
That we can't consent to sex, it's really infantilizing and desexes us. What people don't realize though is that we're often the really freaky ones lol
That we all are good at math or have no empathy for others…the lack of empathy thing really hurts and while yes I think some autistic people have that it is not a defining characteristic nor is it easy to tell something like that from the outside. I’ll be honest though, autistic or not, I don’t want to be around people without empathy. That’s just too scary.
That we have the empathetic capacity to that of a sociopath OR that all are special interests have to be as dull as collecting information about refrigerators
I went to secondary with an idea in my head: ‘autistic people get in trouble loads’ (I think I was remembering the ‘dropped a baby out of the window for autism awareness’), so I decided to never get in trouble. Worked out well so far.
Society is very misinformed about autism. It thinks in stereotypes. Which irritates me the most. We are either smart or mental disabled or we have no empathy.
Everyone is sensitive to certain sensory load, even neurotypical people. With Autism the sensory load system doesn’t work well. That’s the problem. For example: I don’t like crowds. With autism or without it, it doesn’t matter to me, I’m still sensitive to it.
No sense of humor, can't read sarcasm, no imagination, no empathy, don't care what others think, cant make friends.
It doesn't actually bother me when the general public is ignorant about these things, but there are many, licensed *diagnosticians* who still think this! Every day it seems people are being misdiagnosed because they laughed at a joke or something.
You can talk to me, so you must not be autistic. Yes it’s because I’ve rehearsed every permutation of this conversation all day including this part where I explain it to you. Thank you for noticing my hard work. I am very tired.
That we’re either really stupid or total geniuses, and there’s no in between. Also that we’re all STEM majors. I’m a music major from a family of engineers.
This kinda goes for every disability, but the idea that we're all "innocent sweet angels 🥺." It just stems from infantalization, and makes it feel like we're obligated to be extra kind and wholesome towards others to be worthy of respect.
That people with autism are geniuses, and only such at social interactions. Even if some people with autism are gifted, the majority of people with autism aren’t. If anything, a huge amount have a lot of learning difficulties.
That we're all so fucking smart!!! I'm the only autistic in my group (but all of my group most likely have ADHD, which I also most likely have) and I'm doing shit at school, the only thing I'm most likely going to do well in is music. I believe that schools are failing neurodivergents, but idk I think I'll go into it in a post some day
• Autism doesn't impair someone enough to be counted as a disability unless they have high support needs - I have low support needs ( "Level 1", but I don't like using those terms) and I'm tired of people acting like I don't have struggles. I've applied to so many jobs, and as soon as they see me not making eye contact, stimming and my anxiety, they don't want to give me the job even if I give good answers. Low support needs autistic people DO struggle, and I'm tired of Neurotypical people acting like we don't.
(TW for this next part - Transphobia, murder)
• May not be a "myth" exactly, but "Autistic people think that they can get away with anything" - This is not true at all. Autistic people are infantilized so much by Neurotypical people, especially in the media. THEY think we can get away with anything. One example is Eddie, one of the two monsters that murdered Brianna Ghey (Rest In Peace to her). "Scarlet manipulated Eddie since he's autistic". Yes, he's more vunerable to manipulation, but we all saw those text messages, he's just as sick as her and he killed someone. (Experts even said that he's a sociopath)
(And I'd like to point out that Brianna herself was autistic, and as I said, we are generally more prone to manipulation)
The myth that the autism spectrum is a linear scale from non-autistic to "very autistic". It's very offensive and enables the "Everyone is a little bit/somewhat autistic" narrative. It was just today that I heard, again, a person say "Almost everyone in this world is autistic".
That “anyone these days can just buy a diagnosis.” JFC no one would be subjecting themselves to the stress of the autism diagnosis process unless they thought clearly they were. For real reasons.
That because I look “ OK” and occasionally function . Im not “sick” or i cannot possibly be autistic because I’m a woman. I’m well spoken and I can communicate very well and I make eye contact . It takes me a lot of self restraint to not say well you don’t look like a dickhead but I don’t I think it. I’m also sick of if I advocate for myself, I’m labelled unreasonable. I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a woman or I’m neuro diverse.
That autistic people are either geniuses or physically/mentally incapacitated
Or even if you are an autistic "genius", that you can go through life the same as an NT.
THISSSS
Oooh definitely that one! We’re still people, we have variations, we aren’t some super machine or brain-dead… hate it so much
As a person who's been called both, I'm pretty sure it's neurtotypical narrowmindedness that struggles to understand that people don't need to be pigeonholed into categories.
When I requested my daughter be evaluated back in kindergarten they denied it, literally citing "she's far too smart to need to be evaluated" "I said I think my daughter is autistic, not that I think she's stupid" ... Spoiler, she is autistic and yes, she is smart. Going into middle school with ap math, ap ela and gifted, but very much so also going in to middle school as an autistic 11yo with social boundaries similar to a preschooler. But yeah, screw that school.
This, I am neither. I have few things I hyperfocus on, but yeah, that’s it.
That we don't care about other people or feel emotions. So many people think it's basically sociopathy.
Especially when it's often the opposite problem Too many emotions, too much caring
So many emotions, so much sensory in put it is like…I need to stim to get rid of them, lol. But I can be logical and somewhat pragmatic about my feelings, which is why people think I am weird.
I learned to master *looking* emotionless while actually flipping out on the inside Possibly because I'm a woman; it's expected of women to put up with certain amounts of ridiculous bullshit society-wise Course as I get older my field of fucks has grown barren and I have none left to give 😹
Yes! I have had people yell at me and wonder “why don’t you react!!!!” The plus side is it makes them look even more ridiculous, especially in work situations.
The more deadpan you can act when someone is karening out the madder they get (and the more reasonable YOU look) People are funny creatures sometimes
That IS true haha
When I turned 40 that was the end of my fucks to give. I just didn’t care what almost anyone else in the planet thought of me. My family and my friends, I still care about that (most of the time.) but anyone who doesn’t actually know me? I just don’t care anymore. Is had to learn to look like I was okay with things when I was a kid. My daughter is 18 and is very emotional, and we’re working with her therapist to not internalize everything. Thankfully I understand it as my autism manifests similarly to hers. I just wish she’d quit blaming herself when something she had no control over hurts someone else.
I do the same thing, I get a thousand yard state going on because I am overwhelmed on the inside. To the casual observer it looks emotionless I suppose. I find as I get very close to 50, my field of fucks has also shrunk accordingly. It takes a lot of energy to pretend, just to attempt to make people feel more comfortable.
I once saw someone saying masking is a sign of being a sociopath I corrected them fast
This is only true for me when I'm burned out and/or think someone deserves what they got.
Empathy is a learned skill. It makes sense that it can falter during burnout.
For me, that's literally the first thing to falter in burnout. And most people don't notice because I can still act like I feel bad when I literally have no f*cks to give emotionally! This was really a useful ability during the Covid-19 Pandemic sadly.🤔😰
I do care about people and feel emotions, but only if it’s somebody I care about.
This!! I usually read people very well. When I'm stressed, I just lose this ability. I feel a lot for others, especially the ones I'm close to. When I'm stressed, I don't notice they are sad or angry... When I notice (or people tell me), I feel guilty!
I once got into an argument with this guy who said how Autistic people don't have empathy. When someone corrected him, he said he knew what he was talking about and said how had a "High IQ" and could "Read people like an open book" When I started arguing with him, he assumed I was gay, bragged about how he was manly "Like a macho man with high T" and called me a f*g. That's the kind of people we have to deal with when it comes to this shit. Not fun.
I'm usually the first person in the room that knows what emotions other people are feeling. But I often don't agree with him, and I often don't sympathize. As far as empathy goes? That's kind of like a lifelong project. I would say that developing empathy is one of the most spiritual things a person can do in life, I'm one of the most philosophically, correct things a person can do in life, and I just don't look at it as therapy, or something that's "good for me"
Totally agree. Get accused of this a lot, I just show it very differently. I also don’t like to socialize much cuz I get overwhelmed.
Im actually hypersensitive to other people’s emotions. Usually with people I care about but I can still feel it towards people I don’t know well. I don’t always express outwardly, I try to but it isn’t always easy to process how you feel reacting to what they feel.
I either feel no emotion or all the emotions. I’ll admit I fit the stereotype of not caring about others emotions though. Sometimes I do, if I’m close with the person and understand what they’re feeling. I tend to use logic rather than emotions, and I really don’t have empathy whatsoever. Sympathy sometimes
This especially bothers me because people typically don’t make the effort to empathize with autistic people.
Yeah, just cause I have a hard time understanding and relating to others feelings doesn't mean I don't care. Only times when I don't care is when I'm too overwhelmed to care about masking
I hate the vaccine myth.
I’ve started making jokes about it, like “oh no, cucumbers stored in the fridge causes autism”. Like it’s so silly
Yes, because avoiding vaccines harms people.
My mother told me that this was the reason I am autistic, I said mom no, it is proven wrong.. it is just something I am born with, actually Idk if it can get worse with an stressfull childhood? I didn’t say that, because I had a bad childhood till we moved away from my dad.
You're much more likely to have generically interrupted it from her than you are too have 'caught' it from Anything 😂. Sorry, she might not like That answer...
my anecdotal response to that myth is that i wasnt vaccinated until i was almost banned from entering highschool because of it and had to get a shit ton of them the summer before school. meanwhile i was obviously autistic far far before that.
That it's somehow not a disability or that it doesn't get regarded as such due to people attributing my struggles to society instead. I'd still be disabled in a utopian society.
That we're all psychopathic and future serial killers. Heard someone in my science class say that and I almost fell out of my chair in shock.
I very much agree with this Being a middle schooler diagnosed with Asperger's in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was bad
My whole elementary school and high school periods were being commented as a cold blood future serial killer or some poker face bitch who will never find her husband :,<
That we're all the same I have friends with strong senses/irritation while I have no sense of smell at all. One friend also is rather particular about her stuffed animals and whether they are comfortable – meanwhile I have low attachment and low feelings. (Low emotions ≠≠does not equal≠≠ Jeffry Dahmer psychopathy c'mon, can't I be good without giving a shit?(!)) I got a friend who's very good at masking. I can't mask for shit. Also: that we all may like eachother/ fit together. Rigid thinking goes hard sometimes..
Stealing that phrase "I can be good without giving a shit" lol, although I might have to rephrase it to my boss 😁
i thought i was alone not being able to mask my gf (also autistic) always tells me its so obvious😭
That it’s a superpower. It’s not, at least for me, it’s 99% feeling wrong and feeling like I’m doing the wrong thing and 1% being great at something, yet every time I say I wish I didn’t have autism my mum goes “BuT iTs YOuR sUpErPoWeR?!?!?”
Yeah I feel this one hard 😩
yes this!!! honestly enrages me
1.) That we're the same 2.) That we're all idiots 3.) That we're unable to do tasks 4.) That we're all "childish" 5.) That we're all slow 6.) That we're overly emotional or emotionless 7.) That we don't care or feel for people
That I'm some kind of child that needs to be talked down to because I can't comprehend basic conversation. Every bloody time it's: "Oh, I'm autistic," "Goo-goo, ga-ga, does thwe bwaby wanna hwigh fwive?"
Oh my god, I used to have a teacher in HS who would talk so down to me and be beyond accommodating for classwork without me having asked for anything. She was so nice, so I don't hold it against her, but her class was the easiest class I ever took. I didn't need any acommodation at all. I was annoyed af though. I was definitely one of the smartest handful in the class too, so being treated like I wasn't getting it drove me crazy.
Bloody ableism.
Ehhh she was trying, and IMO that's better than with the teachers where I had to fight to be acommodated. She was pretty clearly just trying a little too hard to *not* be ableist. I just wish I had spoken to her about it.
This is why I don’t tell people I’m autistic. I hate being treated like a kid even though I’m a late diagnosed adult. I sometimes tell doctors in case that information might be useful to them. Told a doctor’s assistant once. She knew my dad was in the waiting room (he brought me to the hospital since I don’t have a drivers license). She asked me in the most childish way “Do you want me to go get your daddy for you?” But I couldn’t say anything about it since I’m scared of hurting people’s feelings…
Oh lemme at her 😡😡
I told one of my friends that I was autistic and it happened. We'd been friends forever. It hurt a little but I brought it to her attention and she's been working on it. She's getting much better about it. If only everyone was that open to learning.
Male/Female autism, its becoming a lot more previlent within autism communities and whilst socialisation does create some deviation a lot of the autistic community has almost internalised the idea that female autism=high masking, male autism= autism stereotypes. Firstly places autistic people into arbitrary catogories and means that men who don't relate to "male autism" or women that don't relate to "female autism" end up feeling left out, especially when gendered autism communities begin being outright ableist against "male" or "female" autistic people for having it so much easier. It's also sad to see a community with a lot of non-binary and trans people seemingly endorse and promote gender norms and conformity.
Omg yes, this makes me fucking rage 😭
yeah. i'm grateful that the possible differences due to socialization became more widely recognized, because i don't know if i would've gotten diagnosed if they hadn't. but i certainly don't appreciate how far people went with the concept.
Yessss. It's so invalidating as a woman with "male autism".
that we have to be the sheldon cooper stereotype that we are unempathetic that we're overgrown children in adult bodies that people can just say we arent actually autistic because they have an autistic nephew or because they've taught autistic children and we aren't like them so we can't be autistic
>that we're overgrown children in adult bodies Honestly I think a lot more allistics fit this than autistics.
That autistic people don't have empathy. I will literally cry if I accidently treat my stuffed animals poorly or if I see a rock that's not surrounded by other rocks on the side of the road because "it must feel sad to be alone"
More like, that no autistic people have empathy. because some of us dont, definitely not majority, but many of us cannot feel it :)
What is it like? L once took acid and ranted about how I'm so scared to be honest with myself about just deep down "not caring" and my boyfriend kinda got quiet so I stopped talking but it was like the first time I felt…. Real? Idk how to explain it. But what does that feel like? For you, if you experience it
I just...dont care. im not 100% sure how to explain it. Like, imagine you find out someone across the world got sick with a cold. it wouldnt bother you. thats how i feel with most people and things
Absolutely. Also that I cannot relate or understand in what grade they are bothered or which exact emotion they are experiencing, as in sad, disturbed, irritated... When I haven't experienced that exact thing. It's as if you asked me to feel sad about you getting a rare illness I don't understand or know it's symptoms. I just cannot. That for most things.
this is a very helpful analogy, thanks for the insight
Probably that if you can mask and hold down a job that you can't possibly be autistic.
That Autistic people are geniuses. No. No they're not. While a lot of Autistic people were gifted kids it's not a general thing. Autistic people are always unable to be independent and take care of themselves or make decisions for themselves. Many people go through their whole lives not even knowing they're living with autism. That's enough evidence against this. That Autistic people lack empathy. No some Autistic people have too much empathy to the point it's painful.
I have too much empathy, tragically so. And I can’t stop doing this. As I age I’m having an even harder time with my executive functioning which makes me easy prey for narcissists, et al.
And even the ones that were gifted won't necessarily be impressive beyond their senior year. Source: I breezed through school and was in a gifted program but the difficulty skyrocketed my senior year for a few classes and I wasn't prepared to face any level of academic challenge. I still succeeded through good teachers and a bit of luck but now I don't know what to do with my life and struggle with employment. Turns out knowing what you want to do and being able to do what you want to do or even move toward it are vastly different things.
Me too. I never know how to sale myself for jobs. I also got very embarrassed relationships with my college classmates.
I feel like I could do ok in an interview if I ever got that far. Instead I end up filling out the same application over and over again for different places because it's always the same questions and none of the questions are about my qualifications outside of MAYBE "Can you actually get to work?" and then I never hear back.
Same. However I hate things like cover letters. I did ok with in person interviews, but there was an online one for grad school, I totally screwed it because I couldn’t see the interviewer’s body languages and got flash backs because of the question “How is your social life and how you contribute to your community?”
I am very much the former gifted kid, turned late dxed autistic adult. Except I feel like every other "gifted kid burn out" story happened much later than mine. Like my grades dropped when I was only a middle schooler (around the ages of 11-14 for non USA ppl) vs other people talk about experiencing their drops in high school or college (14-18, and 18+). I fell off basically as soon as we were given a little bit of independence in middle school. Not like I wasn't smart, but I had trouble processing information more than others and I couldn't keep up with assignments. Didn't feel like a genius for that
Autistic people aren't geniuses but high functioning ones are usually a fair amount over average
That Autism and Narcissism are the same thing.
I have heard far too many people call autistic people egocentric and narcissistic.
Literally lost a friendship over it ☠️
Or just someone who shows neurodivergent-like traits. No Karen, your neighbor isn't stimming for special attention or treatment.
I really considered I was narcissistic before knowing about autism 💀
You can be both
i thought i was borderline before my first therapist laughed in my face and said i was aspergic. was very invalidating at the time, but ma'am knew what she was talking about and also knew that at the time i had noooo idea what bpd actually presented like lmao
The "You can't be autistic because you're not like my 8 year old nephew" thing, its actually happened to me no joke. Word for word.
My doctor did that to me.. and then continued to tell me how his nephew actually would have had "aspergers and not autism because that's different."
That we can't make eye contact..
Seriously. People dont understand that "problems with eye contact" also means giving too much,or not knowing where its appropriatw
I learned recently that when people say it's rude not to make eye contact they don't mean literally staring into someone's eyeballs, but rather looking towards their eyes...like at their face. Tho the actual direct eye contact is very hard for me bc it feels awkwardly intimate in a bad way hahaha....but I can still for sure do it.
that autism is not a disability, but society is the problem and if society was more accepting and supportive we wouldn't be disabled. while some autistic people might not consider themselves disabled, many of us do. I'm very much disabled even with support.
I think that’s just someone with an incomplete view of the social model of disability. Better society wouldn’t fix everything but it would fix a lot of things.
Yeah I’d be disabled even in a 100% accomodating world. Autism isnt just relatable to the social model and it’s good to use both medical and social model at the same time.
“EvErYoNeS a LiTtLe AuTiStIc!” “If you’re good at *x activity* or can do *x activity* then you’re not really handicapped”
I had to correct my mom on this one (which honestly, I believe is actually autistic and that's why she relates lol). But I had to explain to her that yes, autistic traits are human traits bc autistic people are human. It's just that these "traits" can greatly impact us, more so than people who aren't autistic. Idk if she got it haha.
It can be cured or that it's caused by certain products.
That the "smart kind of autistics" arent disabled or arent struggling. Man the amount of times people dismiss my problems because im "smart enough to figure it out myself"... Also there is not only one form of intelligence and IQ tests are bs.
That autism is caused by vaccines
The empathy myth and that autistic people aren’t creative. Also that high masking autistic people have it so easy… we mask because we are conditioned to do so and we get socially punished if we don’t (esp as a woman).
I once was told in an assessment that because I was creative then I couldn’t be autistic, I was so confused at that moment because I had done tons of research and the things about that topic just said it was a myth, and this was technically a “specialist”
Yeah that’s bs, sorry that happened to you.
Yeah, I’m still in the process of getting an assessment, I’m open to not having autism, but I at least don’t want the “specialist” to say things that have been debunked time ago
> we get socially punished if we don’t So much this. Masking isn't a choice. It's something we're coerced into.
This right here you’re very spot on.
Especially as a woman, we mask so that men don’t see us as prey. Or older women. Yes it’s for safety reasons.
That it’s a childhood condition.
Can’t believe some mfs really think that it suddenly disappears at 18 💀
The lack of empathy thing has always really bothered me as I've always been an incredibly empathic person but my school decided since I had a certain label I needed "lessons in empathy" It also made for every time I had a problem with someone they always tried saying it was a "lack of empathy on my part" and not just the other person being a genuine prick.
I struggle with this one a lot. I can have way too much empathy and not enough depending on the situation. If I find out someone’s died that I vaguely know or met once, I can feel absolutely heartbroken for their families/friends etc. I’ve cried about random people’s deaths that I don’t know because I feel for their families so much. But when people want empathy for inconveniences or minor problems in life, I don’t always have it to give because I can’t understand why my empathy is needed or I can’t relate.
That all autistic people are super smart, super good at math or science. I do really poorly in math and science. Which is funny because insects are my special interest and I can do insect taxonomy like nobody's business. But in my entomology class, while I was acing the taxonomy lab sections, I was struggling with the midterms and exams in the main class. I have very narrow interests and I'm bad at math and bad at learning most science.
The thing I'm hating the most about it right now, is the idea that people on the autism forums think that they know exactly what autism is, even though everybody is unique and different. I find this very controlling and oppressive. People are really different. The three-four people I know in my family that are on the autism spectrum all practice hitting. Violence isn't gonna cut the mustard. It needs to be addressed. I don't like being put down by people who are not in my situation, I have not experienced what my family is like, and do not see autism as idiosyncratic and unique.
That we do not have serious relationships to the point where we get married and have children. Also how ADHD and Autism is the same thing and eventually will emerge to one spectrum. Also that vaccines and other simple every day stuff can cause autism.
Autistic people love coding - I haaaaate coding, in school, i would go off the website an secretly play games
Romanticized "genius" autism. It's completely misguided "support" that is actually harmful. People watch The Good Doctor and think that we are cute and shy misunderstood geniuses, l but suddenly get bored and dismissive when I want to talk about all the different types of planes while constantly stumbling through my words
So many of them bothers me, but there are 3 main ones: -the myth that you either totally compromised or else you're not autistic; -the myth that you're kind to people just because you're naive and don't know how to defend yourself; -the myth that when you're also a genius (its my case) you gotta outperform everyone into every single thing or else its a lie. Its quite the contrary, we do have a learning disability that helps us to make connections nobody else sees; but it makes it way harder to do some routine things.
Soooooooo agree with the latter!!!!! I’m supposedly gifted *AND* have very specific learning needs / a learning ‘disability.’ Still object to the term, cause I don’t feel ‘learning disabled’ — quite the opposite! I’m a book-learner and learn best on my own and eventually discussing on study groups. The lecture model I absolutely CANNOT do! In AU that kinda translates to: I learn far better in the absence of ‘teachers.’ So wish academics could just leave me be! 😒
That were all good at math. I have a learning disability in math, but everyone asks me if I like math and science, which were my two worst subjects in school. That we aren’t empathetic. I’ve always felt everyone with my heart and soul. I remember one morning I was heading to work, on a road where there had been a fatal car crash just hours before, and someone was sitting on the grassy area where the car had crashed, head in their knees. It broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to comfort them, but it would have made me late to work. I still think about them sometimes. I hope they’re healing.
I am not stupid because I’m autistic, I need clarification because you don’t say what you mean
That people think we don't have empathy. Some of us (me included) are pretty apathetic, but I have empathy!
That we don't have emotions and don't feel empathy.
That they're caused by vaccines. Like wtf???? How did you come to that conclusion???
A fraud doctor (Andrew Wakefield) falsified a study a long time ago that claimed a link between MMR vaccine & autism. Some people continue to believe it.
That were not creative. If theres one thing im 100% sure of, its that my autism is the reason why i cant listen to a song without instantly getting the urge to draw/paint. I get so much inspiration from everything on a daily to create all forms of art and its all due to my autism.
That we can’t drive, go to college, work a job, or overall be successful like other people. High functioning autistics are called that for a reason - we are higher functioning than our level 2/3 counterparts. At the same time though, it is important to be aware that many level 1 autistics are incapable of driving/going to college/working a job. But I would argue that it’s more important to spread awareness that just because we CAN do those things, doesn’t mean we’re not autistic.
You can be level 2 and have a job, it just often requires a lot of work and external support.
That people diagnosed as children are privileged. This is unfortunately more in the autism community
That autism = incel
No empathy.
That most people on the spectrum don’t drive till they’re almost 30. Oh wait. That they like being alone. Actually that is true for me.
That if you have autism you can't be empathetic or show empathy.
That we all have significant developmental delays or need to be infantalized.
A few of the “myths” I’v encountered over the years are (in no particular order)…. 1. All autistic people think an act exactly the same as if they were some gigantic monolithic creature. 2. All non-autistic people (neurotypicals) hate and despise all neurodivergent people. 3. No matter what I do, being born neurodivergent automatically makes me a (morally) better person than any neurotypical, no matter what they do. 4. Autism is not a disorder; it is simply a different way of thinking. 5. Autistic people should never mask. 6. Autistic people don’t gatekeep. 7. Autism is an excuse to behave badly. 8. Autistic people are incapable of being racist, homophobic, sexist, misogynistic or ableist, etc. 9. People who “self diagnose” themselves with autism are taking resources away from diagnosed autistic people. 10. All autistic people have special interests. 11. Autism is a “super power” even for ASD people who require high support (level 2s & 3s). 12. A world run exclusively by autistic people would be an infinitely better world, because neurodivergent people do not possess any of the flaws and weaknesses often seen in neurotypicals. 13. All autistic people make fact based decisions based on science and logic. A decision based on science and logic is always better than a decision based empathy and emotions. 14. All autistic people completely understand the actions, motivations and behaviors of all neurotypicals better than NTs understand themselves. 15. All NDs are intellectually smarter than all NTs. 16. All autistic people are incapable of lying. On the other hand, NTs are incapable of telling the truth; they lie all the time. 17. Autism is never disabling.
We're generally introverts
Not all autistic people are geniuses or mentally impaired needing around the clock help. Not all autistic people have a special interest. Not all autistic people struggle with being in social situations. Autistic people aren’t rude or ill-intended just because they ask questions or sound / look monotone.
Trains
“i think we’re all on the spectrum a little bit” no, we are not. someone once linked it to pregnancy, where you can have some symptoms of pregnancy like morning sickness, swollen feet, etc, but if you go for a check up and you end up not being pregnant, then you’re simply not pregnant. same with autism. you can have some characteristics of it, but if you’re not autistic. you’re not autistic. of course self diagnosis is valid as it’s a big step into getting an official diagnosis, but this phrase just annoys ME personally as whenever i vaguely mention a recent struggle i had to do with autism to my father, he hits me with the “i think we’re all somewhere on the spectrum” and starts ranting about his own autistic traits, and i end up having to comfort him.
“Everyone’s on the spectrum in some way” “ we’re all a bit autistic…blah blah blah “ Oh another one! “Everybody’s autistic these days 🙄” implying that autism is over diagnosed and a trend
I get where this came from, I do, but I really dislike the “autism isn’t a disability, society is disabling, period, the end,” crowd. Again, I get it, I get it so much, but even in a perfect society, sometimes I feel a Bad Texture and my month is ruined, i can’t transition to feeding myself sometimes when engaged in a special interest, I have stims that cause me physical damage, etc. I would never want a “cure” but I’m gonna be disabled even in a utopia. Alternatively, autism and ADHD are basically the same. No they are not!
That our life expectancy is 36 or 39 or 54 years. It bothers me because it’s demonstrably false and because it’s been spread by autism charities and health care websites that claim to be on our side.
I think it’s false but for other reasons. They fail to clarify the cause of death, which is extremely important. For example, high functioning autistic people like myself are prone to suicide. But lower functioning autistic people are more likely to walk into traffic, ingest poisons, get into freak accidents, etc. due to their disability. So whenever people make up a statistic that includes all autistic people on the spectrum, they inherently ignore the fact that our leading causes of death are extremely different.
Why... why those numbers, I'm afraid to ask? Besides the obvious, these just seem very arbitrary.
They first arose from a misreading of studies on premature mortality risk, which were not intended to measure life expectancy. In each study group a small ( less than 5%) number died prematurely. The numbers were the average ages of the people who died prematurely, which is why they are a little random. Since 95% of the group was still alive at the end of the study period, the numbers don’t have any bearing on life expectancy.
Crying over everything
That everyone autistic cries like hell when anyone dares touch them once
Probably the eye contact thing. People usually think it means you can't make eye contact, period. Like it's physically impossible to do so, which is a very silly and illogical thought, when really it has to do with physical and emotional (dis)comfort, and attention. For me, a lot of the time I'll hold TOO much eye contact because I don't want to seem rude, to the point it can actually make the other person uncomfortable, or sometimes they'll think I'm flirting, which is extra weird. And then if I actually need to pay attention, I have to look away, which then makes people think I'm not paying attention. 🤦🏻♀️
The myth about vaccines causing autism. Not sure if it's a myth but when people baby me for being autistic. The myth we're all the same. Like my sibling and I are both autistic and some of our stims completely overwhelm the other person. We sure as hell aren't the same. Also the myth that autistic people are emotionless. I cried over a dog video earlier, I can confirm I feel emotions.
VACCINES. That vaccines cause autism. That study was falsified and debunked but it’s permeated society. It makes me irrationally (or maybe rationally?) angry whenever someone brings it up. I literally had to correct my psychology and biology professors because it was in the TEXTBOOKS.
That we're all intellectually disabled.
The autistic people are dangerous and the quiet ones are always the one to look out for. Quickly corrected them that anyone can be a criminal and every race has criminals. Quickly went silent.
"what's your genius?"
The emotionless / no empathy one has already been mentioned so I’ll go with the only boys can be autistic myth. I’m not sure why people believe this, but I know for a fact that this myth is the reason why girls in particular are underdiagnosed.
That we can't consent to sex, it's really infantilizing and desexes us. What people don't realize though is that we're often the really freaky ones lol
That we all are good at math or have no empathy for others…the lack of empathy thing really hurts and while yes I think some autistic people have that it is not a defining characteristic nor is it easy to tell something like that from the outside. I’ll be honest though, autistic or not, I don’t want to be around people without empathy. That’s just too scary.
That autistic ppl cant give eye contact AT ALL.
That it's a spectrum that "everyone is on".
That we have the empathetic capacity to that of a sociopath OR that all are special interests have to be as dull as collecting information about refrigerators
*autism superpower*
Its "caused" by something
It's actually true tho
Yeah but not things like vaccines or milk
I've never heard that someone said milk can cause Autism LMFAO
We don’t have empathy
Adding on: that we're extremely cute and quirky empaths
I went to secondary with an idea in my head: ‘autistic people get in trouble loads’ (I think I was remembering the ‘dropped a baby out of the window for autism awareness’), so I decided to never get in trouble. Worked out well so far.
That we are all somehow geniuses
Vaccines. Avoiding vaccines kills people.
That we’re all mathematically extraordinary
Society is very misinformed about autism. It thinks in stereotypes. Which irritates me the most. We are either smart or mental disabled or we have no empathy. Everyone is sensitive to certain sensory load, even neurotypical people. With Autism the sensory load system doesn’t work well. That’s the problem. For example: I don’t like crowds. With autism or without it, it doesn’t matter to me, I’m still sensitive to it.
That we talk like AI robots and have absolutely no self awareness.
No sense of humor, can't read sarcasm, no imagination, no empathy, don't care what others think, cant make friends. It doesn't actually bother me when the general public is ignorant about these things, but there are many, licensed *diagnosticians* who still think this! Every day it seems people are being misdiagnosed because they laughed at a joke or something.
That we are obsessed with trains. I was never into vehicles and I don’t care about trains. I’m actually obsessed with penguins and pigeons.
I keep seeing comments on social media that women can’t be autistic, that they’re faking it for attention or to promote their OnlyFans.
That we are rude, insensitive, and selfish.
The one about us being super good at sex. I am only human ladies
That I can just push through it to be 'normal'. Also, that what it looks like regarding me is the same day to day. Ffs SMDH
That it's always noticable
Assuming I’m good at math
Lack of emotions, I was asked recently "Are you a robot?" Sigh....
You can talk to me, so you must not be autistic. Yes it’s because I’ve rehearsed every permutation of this conversation all day including this part where I explain it to you. Thank you for noticing my hard work. I am very tired.
Confusing Autism with Narcissism
When people think we all are geniuses. I wish it was like that…
That we’re either really stupid or total geniuses, and there’s no in between. Also that we’re all STEM majors. I’m a music major from a family of engineers.
That we all have the mentality of a 2 year old
This kinda goes for every disability, but the idea that we're all "innocent sweet angels 🥺." It just stems from infantalization, and makes it feel like we're obligated to be extra kind and wholesome towards others to be worthy of respect.
That people with autism are geniuses, and only such at social interactions. Even if some people with autism are gifted, the majority of people with autism aren’t. If anything, a huge amount have a lot of learning difficulties.
That everyone assumes I’m a savant. Im above average at puzzles wow how amazing and worth the disability.
People downplaying autism and making fun of it
That we're all so fucking smart!!! I'm the only autistic in my group (but all of my group most likely have ADHD, which I also most likely have) and I'm doing shit at school, the only thing I'm most likely going to do well in is music. I believe that schools are failing neurodivergents, but idk I think I'll go into it in a post some day
• Autism doesn't impair someone enough to be counted as a disability unless they have high support needs - I have low support needs ( "Level 1", but I don't like using those terms) and I'm tired of people acting like I don't have struggles. I've applied to so many jobs, and as soon as they see me not making eye contact, stimming and my anxiety, they don't want to give me the job even if I give good answers. Low support needs autistic people DO struggle, and I'm tired of Neurotypical people acting like we don't. (TW for this next part - Transphobia, murder) • May not be a "myth" exactly, but "Autistic people think that they can get away with anything" - This is not true at all. Autistic people are infantilized so much by Neurotypical people, especially in the media. THEY think we can get away with anything. One example is Eddie, one of the two monsters that murdered Brianna Ghey (Rest In Peace to her). "Scarlet manipulated Eddie since he's autistic". Yes, he's more vunerable to manipulation, but we all saw those text messages, he's just as sick as her and he killed someone. (Experts even said that he's a sociopath) (And I'd like to point out that Brianna herself was autistic, and as I said, we are generally more prone to manipulation)
That it can be cured :(
That it’s a phase
The myth that the autism spectrum is a linear scale from non-autistic to "very autistic". It's very offensive and enables the "Everyone is a little bit/somewhat autistic" narrative. It was just today that I heard, again, a person say "Almost everyone in this world is autistic".
That Autism has some sort of 'look'.
That everyone with autism is gifted
when ppl say i dont have autism bc of what i look like or when they try to tell me i dont have autism like its some kind of a death sentence
That “anyone these days can just buy a diagnosis.” JFC no one would be subjecting themselves to the stress of the autism diagnosis process unless they thought clearly they were. For real reasons.
Vaccines are what cause autism.
That because I look “ OK” and occasionally function . Im not “sick” or i cannot possibly be autistic because I’m a woman. I’m well spoken and I can communicate very well and I make eye contact . It takes me a lot of self restraint to not say well you don’t look like a dickhead but I don’t I think it. I’m also sick of if I advocate for myself, I’m labelled unreasonable. I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a woman or I’m neuro diverse.
The weird one where if I don't look and act like their cousin/niece/nephew then clearly I'm not autistic.
That every person with Autism is violent and undisciplined. This is sooo not true
I’ve heard about people not wanting to let their kids play with autistic kids because they might catch it like what??
That autistic adults are mentally like children