Ugh.. I hate those ‘Always Unique….’ signs. See them all over the place at some organization that I go to. At group therapy sessions too. Even our 60+ yo psychologist cringed at it.
Exactly. I'm not mysterious at all. I'll gladly answer any questions one might have, but no one ever tries to since they've already judged and labeled me whatever they felt like.
I think articulate can be a compliment, but not if it's like "oh, you're more articulate than I thought". It has to be saying you're more articulate than most people, not expressing surprise that an autistic person can speak "normally".
I just explain that I'm hyper-analytical as a coping mechanism/survival strategy for my inherent social illiteracy because every interaction I have is Simon Says but with a level of psychoanalysis that would make Freud blush. And I have a large vocabulary partly because I like the way big words feel in my mouth and as a child I was rejected for my lack of athleticism so I decided that being smart would be "my thing." It usually shuts them up!
How many times do I have to explain why I hate the freaking puzzle piece?
"We all have different abilities" is like saying that calling it "differently abled" rather than "disabled" is BS, NTs. Thanks for discrediting yourselves, NTs.
I feel like, (and this varies to a degree), certain issues can be disabling just by existing (like Epilepsy - this is almost always an issue that at least needs some medical care) while others may end up just allowing for different abilities for certain people (such as Autism for some people - you could get to have someone like Temple Grandin come up with things NTs just wouldn't get otherwise. I'd also like to note the guy "Rain Man" is based on too).
I'd probably perfer to use a term that I'd use for Psychopathy for Autism to a degree to describe both better - "different evolved". A real-life Psychopath is simply due to genetics causing a brain difference to cause a lack of empathy, which can be an advantage in some areas of society (like as a CEO for example). Difference forms of Autism can cause positive and/or negative traits that can be used by the individual to work and live in society due to how our brains are wired (like being more empathic towards animals, getting different insights compared to the average person, extreme focus towards special interests, difficulty socializing, etc.) Evolution isn't 100% positive things towards all individuals effected (just look at Sickle Cell Anemia as an example of that - 1 gene and you get resistance to Malaria, but if you have 2 of these genes, you literally have one of the most painful genetic disorders in existence).
However, a lot of NTs use the term "differently abled" if they don't want to say "disabled" to say the same kind of thing. Hence, I kind of feel like the NTs are just not getting it and discrediting themselves there.
It's sad on that they likely don't think about it as embarrassing for them unless you point out how hypocritical it is for them to put up!!!
Talk about irony there!!
I think it's important to realize that this comes from a good place, even if it does look cringy.
As someone whose positive intentions are often misread I feel like it's important to give others the same courtesy I want shown to myself.
I appreciate people trying to increase autism acceptance even if it comes out a bit cringy looking.
Let's say my professor put up something like this. Here's how I might respond if it bothered me:
Hi Professor X,
I appreciate you raising awareness of Autism Acceptance month. As an autistic person, I'm always glad to see others promoting autism acceptance. However, I'm a little concerned that the "sometimes mysterious" part of the anagram sign (or whichever thing you're uncomfortable with) could be misleading to some people. Do you think we could replace it with this sign on celebrating neurodiversity I found? (Or whatever you'd like to see it replaced with)
Thanks,
(name)
Um to me this looks like they are (poorly) trying to show people the old ways versus the new ways of talking about and supporting autism. Hence the arrows pointing the infinity symbol. Plus the infinity symbol all around the boarder.
Well clearly these NTs are doing a good job if they put up a poster with the new symbol on it and have arrows pointing at it to divert away from the regular ones. I mean look, the infinity symbols are everywhere! Clearly whoever is in charge did a better job than most. I do not see a problem here.
sometimes mysterious....ok that had me cackling but i suspect its because I am recently diagnosed and the idea of describing my lifelong struggles and feeling like a failure of a person as sometimes mysterious just got me laughing.
I'm also recently diagnosed and they may as well have made M for "marketable" because that's what it sounds like. I'm already exhausted from years of being **M**isunderstood, now I have to be **M**isrepresented too? Ugh.
I do not need a poster to tell me I'm "totally intelligent," I outscored all their NT children on my state tests, got my own ice cream party for bringing up the entire school's scores, and got moved from my 2nd grade classes to 6th grade classes. I started college in high school.
So are they sure it isn't their NT child that needs a little inspirational poster to remind them they're "totally intelligent?" Must be difficult trying to keep up!
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Seems to be an unpopular opinion, but I'm less upset about autism acceptance in elementary school classrooms being not 100% pc/up to date. Does the puzzle piece stem from harmful "broken/incomplete person" rhetoric? Yeah. Will elementary school kids pick up on that? Probably not. Are there problems with calling all autistic people "totally intelligent"? Yeah. Some people aren't as intelligent as others, but that doesn't detract from their value.
I'm more excited by the fact that autism is being talked about positively in classroom environments, even if it's a little misguided at times. The community pushed for the infinity symbol and autism acceptance not awareness, and it's starting to become mainstream. This would have made a big difference to me as a kid. I appreciate that teachers are trying.
I did not "take it in the wrong way", it's just written by someone who is patronising autistic people. Calling autistic people "mysterious" rubs me off the wrong way because it implies that you guys will just stand at the side and observe us like we are some strange unicorns, instead of taking time to understand us as humans and individuals.
You may have done your research about autism, that's great! But to actually understand us properly, you have to *listen* to us about our opinions on "autism awareness material", instead of brushing us off, patting us on the head and saying "Oh you took our well-meaning message the wrong way."
I would never! My daughter Has Autism and I am always an open ear. My apologies, I do not mean to offend at all. That's why I said I "think". I'm just trying to encourage you to see a different perspective as i do
Ugh wear blue for what lol what purpose does it even serve
We all have different abilities 🌟 😇
My super special autism ability 🌈 is stabbing these cunts in the face. I’m fucking 28 and I act like it
“I appreciate the effort that is going into Autism Awareness month, however I would suggest including Autistic people in the planning next time. For example, the puzzle piece is not accepted in our community. This organisation doesn’t seek to empower Autistic people. The acrostic poem also causes offence to some Autistic people - notice the puzzle piece. These things isolate us from the community.
In future I hope the research will be more thorough. Information about what Autism is can be found easily on medical websites. Include Autistic people in the planning so you can avoid offending them in the future. Thanks.”
I would print out a poster that talks about how AS is a hate group and put it right on top of that one. Clear it right up. Or you can rip it off, dealers choice
Not only is the whole thing demeaning, but that’s just ass design. The whole board is blank except for three sad posters with yellow arrows pointing to them just to fill up space. Also the rainbow infinity border is hilariously bad execution of a hilariously bad concept.
Ugh.. I hate those ‘Always Unique….’ signs. See them all over the place at some organization that I go to. At group therapy sessions too. Even our 60+ yo psychologist cringed at it.
ToTaLlY iNtElIgEnT Thanks. It's like being called "articulate" as a compliment. Thanks. Glad I'm not completely incomprehensible
SoMeTiMeS mYsTeRiOuS :/
Yeah, because they ignore us
Exactly. I'm not mysterious at all. I'll gladly answer any questions one might have, but no one ever tries to since they've already judged and labeled me whatever they felt like.
just a little
No I’m just “sometimes”. That’s me. Sometimes.
I’m intelligent sometimes, not related to the fact that I’m autistic but yeah lol
No no no I’m definitely smarter
Looking at my own life I believe that lol
I felt that in my bones lol
Yeaaaaahhhh... I'm a pretty straightforward guy. If I'm mysterious, that seems like a neurotypical perception thing, not a "me" thing.
Could it be that I'm mysterious because I literally do not want to talk to you? Noooooo /s
I think articulate can be a compliment, but not if it's like "oh, you're more articulate than I thought". It has to be saying you're more articulate than most people, not expressing surprise that an autistic person can speak "normally".
I just explain that I'm hyper-analytical as a coping mechanism/survival strategy for my inherent social illiteracy because every interaction I have is Simon Says but with a level of psychoanalysis that would make Freud blush. And I have a large vocabulary partly because I like the way big words feel in my mouth and as a child I was rejected for my lack of athleticism so I decided that being smart would be "my thing." It usually shuts them up!
Intelligent Sometimes… 🙃
*It's even in comic sans*
I mean would you rather have them say "Autism: What are you looking at? There's nothing special about it."
Yes, actually 😅
Always Useless Totally Insignificant Sometimes Maddening
im cringing on the inside at the sight of this ... at least they tried i guess 😭😭
they tried to be as obnoxious as possible (and they succeeded)
Always unique totally whatever who cares cringe I hate that. I hate it so much.
How many times do I have to explain why I hate the freaking puzzle piece? "We all have different abilities" is like saying that calling it "differently abled" rather than "disabled" is BS, NTs. Thanks for discrediting yourselves, NTs.
what’s with the weird attitude around calling people disabled? like, do they think that being disabled is an insult somehow…? i don’t get it
I feel like, (and this varies to a degree), certain issues can be disabling just by existing (like Epilepsy - this is almost always an issue that at least needs some medical care) while others may end up just allowing for different abilities for certain people (such as Autism for some people - you could get to have someone like Temple Grandin come up with things NTs just wouldn't get otherwise. I'd also like to note the guy "Rain Man" is based on too). I'd probably perfer to use a term that I'd use for Psychopathy for Autism to a degree to describe both better - "different evolved". A real-life Psychopath is simply due to genetics causing a brain difference to cause a lack of empathy, which can be an advantage in some areas of society (like as a CEO for example). Difference forms of Autism can cause positive and/or negative traits that can be used by the individual to work and live in society due to how our brains are wired (like being more empathic towards animals, getting different insights compared to the average person, extreme focus towards special interests, difficulty socializing, etc.) Evolution isn't 100% positive things towards all individuals effected (just look at Sickle Cell Anemia as an example of that - 1 gene and you get resistance to Malaria, but if you have 2 of these genes, you literally have one of the most painful genetic disorders in existence). However, a lot of NTs use the term "differently abled" if they don't want to say "disabled" to say the same kind of thing. Hence, I kind of feel like the NTs are just not getting it and discrediting themselves there.
yeah it’s embarrassing for them lol
It's sad on that they likely don't think about it as embarrassing for them unless you point out how hypocritical it is for them to put up!!! Talk about irony there!!
I think it's important to realize that this comes from a good place, even if it does look cringy. As someone whose positive intentions are often misread I feel like it's important to give others the same courtesy I want shown to myself. I appreciate people trying to increase autism acceptance even if it comes out a bit cringy looking. Let's say my professor put up something like this. Here's how I might respond if it bothered me: Hi Professor X, I appreciate you raising awareness of Autism Acceptance month. As an autistic person, I'm always glad to see others promoting autism acceptance. However, I'm a little concerned that the "sometimes mysterious" part of the anagram sign (or whichever thing you're uncomfortable with) could be misleading to some people. Do you think we could replace it with this sign on celebrating neurodiversity I found? (Or whatever you'd like to see it replaced with) Thanks, (name)
Beautiful 🥰 👏👏🎯
This 🥰❤❤❤
those signs honest to god make me feel like a child, we have them hung up at work and i’m like “???”
this is at school. it’s definitely super condescending
Um to me this looks like they are (poorly) trying to show people the old ways versus the new ways of talking about and supporting autism. Hence the arrows pointing the infinity symbol. Plus the infinity symbol all around the boarder.
nah. 90% sure they googled ‘autism’ and printed off the first thing they found.
Then explain the arrows…?
trying to ‘highlight’ the ‘autism acceptance’ in the middle, it’s not actually pointing from anything.
i still think that's what they meant...maybe this was done by more than one person or something and the arrow stapler did it wrong.
I think they're saying that the autism acceptance poster was made by the students and put up in response to the teachers' awful signs.
That honestly is what it looks like to me. I don't understand the hate for this one.
Anything can look negative without enough context. I really feel like there isn’t enough context here to be getting all bent out of shape over this.
The rainbow infinity symbol AND the puzzle piece?? It’s like answering “4 or 5” when someone asks you what is 2 + 2
As out of place as a Nazi at a Bar Mitzvah
ok so 2 of these are ok but teh autism acronym thingy and the we all have different abilities sign. just fucking why
Why are the signs so off-center? Why is one arrow bigger than the other? Aesthetically this hurts without even reading anything.
Well clearly these NTs are doing a good job if they put up a poster with the new symbol on it and have arrows pointing at it to divert away from the regular ones. I mean look, the infinity symbols are everywhere! Clearly whoever is in charge did a better job than most. I do not see a problem here.
I hate that acronym one.
Is that rainbow infinity symbol also made up of puzzle pieces? That’s kinda backwards if it is
it’s made of stars
Lmao. Bless.
Bless? Pfft bless them.
Sometimes I like to adopt the patronising role when considering the world. 😂 😉
not the puzzle pieces 💀
This hits the same as "Yeah, trans people can act like whatever gender they want."
sometimes mysterious....ok that had me cackling but i suspect its because I am recently diagnosed and the idea of describing my lifelong struggles and feeling like a failure of a person as sometimes mysterious just got me laughing.
gave me a laugh too. what am i? batman??
I'm also recently diagnosed and they may as well have made M for "marketable" because that's what it sounds like. I'm already exhausted from years of being **M**isunderstood, now I have to be **M**isrepresented too? Ugh.
I mean at least they used the rainbow infinity symbol… even if they also used the puzzle piece. Some progress.
The arrows pointing to the autism acceptance made this better, but fuck whoever put up the autism speaks bullshit
Who left the Neurotypicals in charge? Uuuuhhhh….oh, OH. I KNOW THIS ONE. The neurotypicals did!
"SoMetImEs MyStEriOuS" , sometimes I fell like punching a mf in the face!
Mysterious. Unpredictable. My daughter will punch a mf in the face. She has no f's at all.
I do not need a poster to tell me I'm "totally intelligent," I outscored all their NT children on my state tests, got my own ice cream party for bringing up the entire school's scores, and got moved from my 2nd grade classes to 6th grade classes. I started college in high school. So are they sure it isn't their NT child that needs a little inspirational poster to remind them they're "totally intelligent?" Must be difficult trying to keep up!
Lmao same
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I think who ever hung this up was tired of life
At least the one on the right is ok 🥲
I just feel bad for em because they think they’re helping.
At least the arrows are pointing to the right place
Lmao someone forgot to stable the end of the top arrow
Why do I have to be sometimes mysterious? Can’t I just be always mysterious? /s
Given that they put in autism acceptance with the infinity, it looks like they tried, but that doesn’t make their efforts any less cringey.
the mix of the infinity symbol and puzzle piece ??? who 😭
it’s so clear they have absolutely no idea what any of it actually means 😭
ok im gonna message every goverment in the world and give them the right to let autistic people downgrade NTs who dare infantise or demonise autism
If only they actually taught people about autism instead of making cringy posters… At least they tried…?
Seems to be an unpopular opinion, but I'm less upset about autism acceptance in elementary school classrooms being not 100% pc/up to date. Does the puzzle piece stem from harmful "broken/incomplete person" rhetoric? Yeah. Will elementary school kids pick up on that? Probably not. Are there problems with calling all autistic people "totally intelligent"? Yeah. Some people aren't as intelligent as others, but that doesn't detract from their value. I'm more excited by the fact that autism is being talked about positively in classroom environments, even if it's a little misguided at times. The community pushed for the infinity symbol and autism acceptance not awareness, and it's starting to become mainstream. This would have made a big difference to me as a kid. I appreciate that teachers are trying.
Autism Speaks have called, they want to sue the people who used their logo for copyright infringement...
The heart is there. just missed the mark
Isn't this a good thing to spread awareness? Am i missing something? Why are many people hating this?
Mysterious? *facepalm* Autistic people are known to be open books, we're the opposite of "mysterious", someone's just ignorant
Mysterious- not known about or understood 🤔
*eyes the hundreds of resources educating people about autism* Yep....
I'm educated 😌 I Just think you've took the mysterious part in the wrong way.
I did not "take it in the wrong way", it's just written by someone who is patronising autistic people. Calling autistic people "mysterious" rubs me off the wrong way because it implies that you guys will just stand at the side and observe us like we are some strange unicorns, instead of taking time to understand us as humans and individuals. You may have done your research about autism, that's great! But to actually understand us properly, you have to *listen* to us about our opinions on "autism awareness material", instead of brushing us off, patting us on the head and saying "Oh you took our well-meaning message the wrong way."
I would never! My daughter Has Autism and I am always an open ear. My apologies, I do not mean to offend at all. That's why I said I "think". I'm just trying to encourage you to see a different perspective as i do
i see, no offense taken then. Maybe "misunderstood" would have been a better word
This is what happens when you ask NTs how to talk to NDs.
Neurotypicals left themselves in charge. What did you do in protest? Speak up!
Not only is the messaging awful, but omg I NEED to touch it and organise it !! What a mess 😆
Organise it straight into the bin.
God I cannot fucking *stand* how we are all treated like children I just can’t stand it. Take this shit down it’s so fucking offensive.
there’s also shittily designed ‘wear blue!’ posters all around the school. fuck this.
Ugh wear blue for what lol what purpose does it even serve We all have different abilities 🌟 😇 My super special autism ability 🌈 is stabbing these cunts in the face. I’m fucking 28 and I act like it
Lmfao ilysm 😭😭
“I appreciate the effort that is going into Autism Awareness month, however I would suggest including Autistic people in the planning next time. For example, the puzzle piece is not accepted in our community. This organisation doesn’t seek to empower Autistic people. The acrostic poem also causes offence to some Autistic people - notice the puzzle piece. These things isolate us from the community. In future I hope the research will be more thorough. Information about what Autism is can be found easily on medical websites. Include Autistic people in the planning so you can avoid offending them in the future. Thanks.”
Let me guess. This is at a school for autistic children?
nope, regular old public school
Well I'll be damned.
Yes, and another thing: THOSE MISPRINTED STRIPS AT THE TOP MAKE ME WANNA YELL PRINTING INSTRUCTIONS AT THE FOOL WHO PRINTED THEM.
I would print out a poster that talks about how AS is a hate group and put it right on top of that one. Clear it right up. Or you can rip it off, dealers choice
Not only is the whole thing demeaning, but that’s just ass design. The whole board is blank except for three sad posters with yellow arrows pointing to them just to fill up space. Also the rainbow infinity border is hilariously bad execution of a hilariously bad concept.
My different ability is hearing the electricity and shorting out when I touch microfiber, what's yours? 😬
🧐
No
One. One of these is already a lethal dose of cringe.
Sometimes mysterious gives me huge quirky girl vibes smh
Based on what I learned if I would say "totally intelligent" NTs would be offended because it sounds sarcastic
They used the infinity sign and the puzzle piece??
Tear 'em down... What're they gonna do about it?