#autistic people can understand sarcasm

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

8 Thing You Need to Know About Autistic People

Pete Wharmby, Autistic Author

[eatyourdamnpears]

I love when older people try to explain autism to me and how people with it act when I literally have an autism diagnosis. I’m the opposite of what they think autism looks like, so it never crosses their mind that I could be autistic

[boneless-mika]

If somebody on tiktok uses the phrase “hope this helps” especially with an emoji with love hearts attached like this 🥰, they are the meanest person you can imagine. They would’ve bullied you for any little quirk in middle school. I keep wondering what makes them so inclined to comment hateful things on the internet like that but I’ll never get an answer

[worms-in-my-brain]

You should cut autistic people some slack when it comes to being blunt, not understanding social cues, or not understanding social norms.

But.

If somebody is being a dick to you, if they’re flirting with you and won’t stop when you ask them to, if they’re being really inappropriate or invasive, it doesn’t matter that they’re autistic! You’re allowed to be uncomfortable with that.

I am autistic and sometimes I do have trouble with social interactions. I often cannot detect sarcasm unless it’s clear from context, I can’t always tell when something is a joke or when somebody is exaggerating, I often can’t tell what people are ‘saying’ if they don’t say it outright, and, though I try to guess anyway, it is extremely taxing and confusing for me.

But that doesn’t mean I can walk around stomping on everybody’s boundaries after they make them explicitly known to me.

I have read far too many stories of specifically some autistic men being completely inappropriate around women, only for the women to be told something along the lines of, “he can’t control it, he’s autistic.” If he can independently go places, he should be able to learn to stop when you say to stop. If he really can’t learn that, then he needs more support (maybe a carer to be out with him and to help him navigate social situations), but, either way, it is completely unacceptable to write off sexual harassment or bigoted behaviour just because somebody is autistic.

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

own 2 cents about cure autism

autism cure research, generally not coming from point of, those with it wanting to improve life this way. but more so—people around them believe it what they want it what they need it improve life, and, uncured autism seen as … difficult for people around them, expensive for government to provide services, take up resources in medical places, etc.

majority autistic people *in actually autistic community, who understand this topic, & can talk about their opinion* don’t want whole cure

there not-small-group of autistic people who cannot reliably tell you what they think about this, or in way that easily understood (can’t communicate, can’t understand, etc). they need be remembered in this conversation (& arguably centered… bc they gonna be more affected. see below)

having said that. there exist autistic people of all types who would want cure for own autism. out of those have seen myself, majority of them [high support needs / nonverbal or level 2/3 or diagnosed severe or significant symptoms of some sort] whose life extremely different from peers because of it (& like majority of their problem not caused by “society” & won’t disappear if society & capitalism not exist anymore). it how they feel about their own autism, n feel counterproductive in “educating” them about their own (clearly personal and upset) feeling about what they want do with own disorder, especially since they not funding cure research or whatever. but—

autism, developmental disability that start in childhood, famous for be the “be treated as can understand and make own decisions” and “have autonomy respected” and “not ever forced coerced do anything” and “not force abusive therapy to make them appear ‘normal’ ” disorder. (sarcasm) — don’t really believe we as society are at place where we would actually respect “only for people who want it. won’t force it on people who not want it”.

aka. if cure is post-natal, AKA happen after birth… they will directly or indirectly force cure on autistic people

force post-natal autism cure will disproportionately impact those who… higher support needs, diagnosed level 2/3, diagnosed moderate severe, diagnosed low functioning, diagnosed comorbid intellectual disability or global developmental delay, diagnosed comorbid genetic developmental disability, nonverbal… diagnosed children, in conservatorship, ward of state, in prison, generally not fully legally allowed have final say in decision making… visibly autistic, have/said to have severe behavioral issues, BIPOC especially Black people… (incomplete list)

which. not to say autistic people who not any of these won’t be affected at all. because will. but as a whole, people on that list as a collective group, will be more impacted, more coerced, more forced, even won’t be given choice, to take cure (maybe won’t even be told was given cure), over people not on that list as a whole.

am going emphasize that autism is developmental disorder that start in childhood & children get diagnosed with it & children legally not final say in make decision & children very easily talked into agreeing without full informed decision & those diagnosed as children more likely be [higher support needs / nonverbal / more significant symptoms] (EDIT: at time of diagnosis) because those most noticeable earliest + global developmental delay then catch up later on happens (to vastly simply it to a fault, quoting someone, “no shit they high support needs, they children.”)

can also see welfare slowly not covering uncured autistic people, insurance decrease / deny / make harder coverage for autism related services other than cure, schools & esp special education less support for autism, etc. general official resources for autism decreasing (which. not much to begin with even pre-cure), which again impact all autistic people but especially list above… oh and poor people. can also see stuck in limbo of “will not get support & welfare if uncured autistic, but no money to cure” because this shit will be expensive

when this much at stake (aka if there no resource for keep be autistic, n resources locked away only able get after cure), when big percentage of autistic people cannot reliably show informed consent in some way (cannot reliably communicate, cannot reliably show they understand, or literally not allowed have decision capacity legally, etc)… if an autistic person say yes they agree. actual willing yes? not coerced? not misled? not forced into it?

autism & autistic people (& by extension, care people they depend on) don’t have enough support to begin with. in this current reality without cure lol. can we focus on that too pour as much money in that too — let’s not talk autism’s inherent quality of life until you give all autistic people as much care as they need & for it be freely n easily available

don’t really think current science have enough tech & resource cure autism like this. autism is complex disorder with complex sources & hard to say if current what called “autism” based on behaviors & internal reported symptom not actually group of different disorders.

if cure pre-natal (e.g genetic identification & abortion. anti choice unkindly DNI) - see: down syndrome

however: finding genetic cause =/= cure. find genetic cause can easily lead to find cure research. but should be clear that they not equal to eachother, not automatic mean eachother.

um. missing many things probably

TL;DR. don’t think right now society at place where… have widespread enough, nuanced enough, critical enough, & enough awareness/acceptance/understanding of ALL autism (and disability as a whole).

enough support for autistic people for autism-related needs & general needs (financial, food, etc).

world where autistic people who can make own decisions about self actual able make own decision about self, & world where autistic people who genuinely can’t (for now or ever) actually protected from harm

and honestly don’t think we have enough scientific and medical advancement/knowledge/ability

etc

to actually make sure this won’t go haywire

.

idk if anyone can follow this

autism issue is disability justice is cross-movement justice. autism issue depends on liberation of so many groups of people (like welfare reform, prison reform) 👍

follow up

[cy-cyborg]

How your disabled character's allies react to their disability can make or break the representation in your story: Writing Disability Quick Tips

[ID: An image with “Writing Disability quick tips: How your character's allies react to their disability matters” written in chalk the colour of the disability pride flag, from left to right, red, yellow, white, blue and green. Beside the text are 2 poorly drawn people icons in green, one is standing with their hand up to the face of the other, who is in a wheelchair. /End ID]

Something I brought up in my big post about Toph Beifong was how the other characters reacted to Toph pointing out that things were not accessible to her and setting boundaries regarding her disability, which were ignored. I had more to say about it than I thought I did, as it turns out (when isn't that the case lol) but I feel like this is an important aspect of disability representation that is all too often over looked.

You can write the best, most accurate portrayal of a specific disability ever put to screen or page, but it won't mean much if all the other characters, specifically those we're supposed to like and empathise with, treat your character terribly for being disabled and having needs relating to said disability, especially if the story justifies their behaviour.

You see this most often with autistic characters and especially autistic-coded characters. The character in question will be given a bunch of autistic traits, most often traits relating to not understanding certain social dynamics or sarcasm, and when they get it wrong, the other characters we are supposed to like jump down their throat, tease them or outright abandon them. Autism isn't the only disability that gets treated this way, but it is one of the more common ones that get this treatment. It doesn't matter if you do everything else right when creating an autistic character if the other "good guys" constantly call them annoying, get angry at them or laugh at them for the very traits that make them autistic, or for advocating for their needs.

Likewise, if you have a leg amputee character who is otherwise done well, but is constantly being criticised by their allies for needing to rest their legs or taking too long to get their prosthetics on, it undermines a lot of the other work you've done. Same goes for having a wheelchair user who is accused of being a bore or a stick in the mud because they point out the places their friends want to go to on a group holiday have no wheelchair access, or a deaf character who is accused of being entitled for wanting their family to learn to sign, or anything else.

This isn't to say you can never have moments like these in your stories, but its important to remember that a) people with the same disability as your character will be in your audience. If you spend a whole season of your TV show shaming your autistic character for real traits that real autistic people have, they're not exactly going to feel welcome and may not want to hang around. b) it's going to very, very heavily impact people's perceptions of your "heros" who do this, especially in they eyes of your audience members who share the character's disability or who have had similar experiences. This isn't like calling someone a mean name or being a bit of a dick when you're sleepy, it's going to take a lot to regain audience appeal for the offending character, and depending on exactly what they do and how frequently they do it, they may not even be able to come back from it at all. And finally, c) there should be a point to it outside of just shaming this character and saying the other guy is an asshole. Like I said before, you're character is criticising real people's real disabilities and the traits or problems that come with them, things that they often have no control over, it shouldn't be used as a cheap, quick way to establish a quirky enemies to lovers dynamic or show that one guy is kind of an ass before his redemption arc. If you really must have your characters do this, be mindful of when and how you use it.

[timkontheunsure]

Some of the reasons I think Stolas is on the spectrum

(finally getting around to popping this on up too).

He has special interests & misses social cues while being happy in them.

It not really normal to be happy reading legal documents when someone's life is on the line. But Stolas is just vibing that he gets to help with his love of words. Yay him!

Stims

He stims when both happy & sad to help regulate his emotions.

His happy stims are:

*clapping when he gets to take Via to the circus, because he thinks they can enjoy it together.

He also does this with contract reading.

*He hopps up and down when his dad gives him a new books. Also when getting ready for his date with Blitz. He's just so happy he needs to hop.

His sad stims:

*are bang his head again and again about the engagement.

*He self sooves with chest strokes when Blitz says his outfit is too much.

*He hand rubs and wringing his hat when worrying about Via in LA.

Special interests

The there's that Stolas info dumps on the playdate with Blitz all about his books and about plants.

Stolas also feels he has to explain why Blitz horse joke was soo funny. And why's it so funny?

Because it's accurate. I love his little cutie.

But he's also kept up his love of plants as a major hobby now he's an adult. When most people tend to swap interests as they age.

Side bar

His comfy resting hand position is t rex hands. This tends to be an autistic thing. Also works well as an owl.

Sensory issues

Stolas appears to also have some sensory issues too. When his a child he appears to be struggling when Mr Butler touches his hair out of nowhere.

But he's fine with Blitz doing it when they're kissing. This shows a lot of trust between them.

I think it's likely sensory issues are the reason why he swaps into his comfy, very old robe, as often as he can too.

Specific communication issues

While Stolas is very good at some communication styles, he's pretty bad at others.

When the audience think it's another joke about wanting to keep a puppy; he immediately knows Blitz's is panicking the studio. And tries to get to him.

However he doesn't get that his dirty talk is way OTT, because he's mostly likely coping it from the erotica. Not lived experience.

Speaking of erotica.

There's obviously a rule that reading is allowed at the diner table. But Stolas doesn't get This book isn't appropriate to read there.

Another rule he appears to follow more rigidly than most probably would; is that when you get an appointment you wait till you're seen.

Ozzie's ment to met Stolas at noon, but doesn't make it till 4 pm because of problems with work.

Stolas is only a couple of days out of the hospital and is probably feeling horrible.

But he sticks around a minimum of 4 hours to be seen, because he feels he has to.

(I'm assuming he also got taught you turn up earlier rule, but this just a guess).

Stolas genuinely wants to do something Via will enjoy, and he's fine taking Via to stylish occult when she asks.

But didn't get it till she's crying and sad that she wasn't enjoying Loo Loo Land.

"I take it you are.. not having fun." She needs to spell it out. Sarcasm isn't easy for him to interrupt.

His was obviously thought taking his daughter and his lover out to a theme park would be a good way to introduce them.

It's the sort of plot that only works on a novellas. And that's probably when he got it from. (Probably worked great for Gabrielle and Alejandro).

These are examples of him Masking, and not understanding why it didn't work.

Stella's being dangerous to be around = take Via out somewhere for her to have fun to blow off steam.

Wanting your lover and daughter to like eachother = ask IMP to tag along as the completely unnecessary bodyguards.

He doesn't really get that flirty with his affair partner, in front of his kid while going through a divorce isn't a good idea...

He also struggles to understand when his flirting comes off as condescending too. With "ittybity imps like you" or calling him Blitzy in public. He's most likely him coping language from other goeita.

But Stolas is very good at knowing when knowing when Blitz is fine being picked up, when to reassure him with face stokes, or how to calm Blitz down from a panic attack in just a few seconds.

So it's not that he's just never learnt these skills. It's just that some communication skills are harder for him than others.

But if you disagree that fine. 🙂 I just wanted to put down some of my thoughts why I think he could be.

[kingofpeacows]

A lot of the time when people bring up Bart Allen as being super autistic coded, they're bringing it up in conjuction with the rest of YJ (which, yes, I love autistic friendship) but sometimes I just wanna talk about Bart Allen.

I wanna talk about the kid who doesn't understand he's getting bullied and managed to be friends with everyone because of it. I wanna talk about the kid who is so bad at holding a conversation everyone thinks he's some sort of brooding asshole. I wanna talk about the kid who KNOWS that the older, more popular kids talk to him and dare him to do stupid stuff because "of course Bart will do it" and does it anyway because he likes making people laugh. I wanna talk about the kid who knows he's doing something wrong socially but he doesn't know what and wants nothing more than to fix it. I wanna talk about the kid who knows he's different but still thinks the rest of the world is the problem. I wanna talk about the kid who's so smart and so brave but everyone only sees him as some mess-up idiot. I wanna talk about the emotional kid who got bullied for being robotic and unemotional because allistic people can't grasp what his world looks like. I wanna talk about the kid who wouldn't know sarcasm from truth. I wanna talk about the kid who's low-empathy but does everything he can to be compassionate. I wanna talk about the kid who's surrounded by people, but still feels so alone because no one else understands his world.

Sometimes I just wanna talk about Bart Allen.

[golden-rolling-hills]

More Autistic Pony and Darry Headcanons

these took me a few days but here y’all go

*scatters headcanons likes they’re birdseed and runs away*

Pony has literally no sense of danger, bro ran into a burning church for christ sake he doesn’t understand danger at all. this scares the fuck out of Darry and Soda

Pony is a chewer, he has a chewy necklace that he uses when he’s at home but at school he literally devours the ends of pens like om nom nom

Pony is much more prone to meltdowns than Darry and he can get pretty aggressive during them. his stims when he’s upset are very self-injurious but if Darry or Soda did something to cause him to meltdown he will hit them

Darry was the kind of kid to heavily mask all day at school and break down as soon as he got home

he’s very routine oriented and if his schedule and routine get messed up then he doesn’t know how to cope

his meltdowns look a lot different than Pony’s. Pony’s are much more stereotypical autistic meltdowns but Darry’s are more yelling at people and stomping around. he’ll usually go off to his room alone and let himself cry and stim but he doesn’t let other people see him like that unless he’s so upset that he can’t hold it in

Pony had the worse sensory issues out of the two of them, he hates tags and seams but he especially hates long sleeves, this is why he cuts the sleeves off of all his hand me downs

he actually likes that most of his clothes are hand me downs because that means they’re already soft and broken in

Darry is the most literal thinker in the world, he can’t understand metaphors or analogies or sarcasm like at all, Pony doesn’t struggle with this as much though and it makes Darry lowkey upset

Pony has a really hard time with routine and time management. he needs to be guided through getting ready for school everyday or else he would just show up late and still in his pajamas

Pony has absolutely zero filter. he says every single thought he has out loud. his social skills are so unbelievably non existent. he really struggles with making friends and the only real actual friend he’s ever had is Johnny

Darry has always masked his autism a lot and he was actually pretty popular in school. if he wasn’t so handsome and athletic then his awkwardness probably wouldn’t have been as well received but since he was then people found his quirks charming and endearing

Pony is very particular about food, he likes to eat the same exact things every day and he’d rather starve than try something new

Darry definitely has alexythmia, he has no clue how he’s feeling ever and emotions make no sense to him

Pony and Darry were diagnosed in the same year, pony was 2 and darry was 8. Pony’s pediatrician noticed signs in him early has referred him to a specialist to be diagnosed and after going through the diagnosis process with pony, the Curtis parents were like “wait, hold up a minute. this all sounds like it applies to Darry too.” so they had him assessed too.

after a meltdown, Pony just wants to be cuddled. he loves deep pressure so tight hugs and weighted blankets are his best friends. Soda is always his go to for a good bear hug, not just because he’s his brother but also because Soda is the master of hugs

Pony always has his headphones on, he’s usually listening to music but even when he’s not he doesn’t take them off

Soda is not the token neurotypical sibling though, he canonically had the most textbook case of ADHD that i’ve ever seen, argue with a wall

[snakeautistic]

One of the reasons I believed I couldn’t be autistic for so long was due to a fundamental misunderstanding of my social struggles. This being that I am not by any means incapable of memorizing social rules. Through observation and direction I can construct a broad framework of ‘socially acceptable or not.’ For example, I’m well aware that making physical contact with someone without consent isn’t acceptable. Or that stating blunt facts in a way that implicates someone negatively isn’t allowed. I know to avoid interrupting others if they’re already talking, to not walk away when I’m in the middle of a conversation. Crying, being unusually quiet and frowning indicates sadness. Someone smiling at laughing at what you’re saying means they probably are enjoying their time with you. An increase in speaking volume indicates excitement- either positive or negative. Sarcasm is often indicated by someone saying something absurd that you know they would never say, or you know to be factually wrong.

The fact that I had learned these broad rules made me think autism wasn’t a possibility for me. But being autistic doesn’t stop you from obtaining and applying information. (I mean that’s why so many interventions that ‘treat’ autism do result in the autistic person being able to pass as neurotypical.)

The difference comes from lacking the subconscious nuances and exceptions that come with those broader rules. For example- when is it okay to actually be honest? Some people will not be bothered by physical intimacy- but how would I know this? How can you tell if a group wants you to join in with their conversation? How to tell if this person is smiling and laughing politely or genuinely? How to tell if someone who you know very little about is being sarcastic?

There are not direct, easy to apply ‘rules’ for this, and yet clearly there are ‘right’ options. When the appropriate reaction must be determined by subtle body language or small shifts in tone of voice, ones that are near impossible to teach- I become completely lost.

That’s something I always find lacking with the general social skills advice given. It’s helpful to a point, but the truth is everyone is an individual. People express themselves differently, and react to your same actions differently due to past circumstances or temperaments. There is no one set of rules you can use for everyone, unfortunately. The majority of neurotypicals, while of course having miscommunications and the like, can rely on their subconscious to parse out any subtle changes they might need to make to their demeanor for a particular situation. My brain is much less adept at focusing down broader experience/rules into unique circumstances. (This is actually something that extends past social cues for me and I might make another post talking about it because I think it’s interesting)

Anyway rant over but yeah this was a huge mental barrier to seeking out a diagnosis for a while because at some level I ( ironically enough) took struggling to understand social cues too literally…

[aw-tysm]

Sometimes it feels like people don't really understand what social communication impairements can actually look like in autism. Sometimes it feels like people reduce it to "socially awkward" or "doesn't understand sarcasm" but they mean it in a more 'simple' and 'quirky' way.

And quite often I see "we're not the problem, it's NTs who can't communicate properly". And while communication can be a struggle for many regardless of NT or ND, this saying reduces the actual issues a lot of autistics face.

[olderthannetfic]

Oh, are we talking about autism in fandom/original stories?

Another "fun" thing is when you write an autistic character based on your own, lived experiences, and then get comments like:

Um, that's not what autism is. (Character) can't be autistic because they can talk/they have empathy for others/they understand sarcasm/they smile. Don't you know that autistic people are basically unfeeling psychopaths? :/

That's not what autism is like, that's a harmful stereotype, you have no idea what you're talking about!

I'm autistic and that's not how I think/feel/act, you clearly don't actually have autism!

Your character is so harmful to the autistic community, you can't show them being angry/mean to others/violent/etc. You're just demonizing autistic people and saying we're monsters!

They're autistic and they're having sex!? Autistic people can't consent, why are you glorifying disabled people being groomed/raped, this is so disgusting!

How dare you show the character being disabled by their disability! You have internalized ableism, stop hating yourself!

It's so surreal. People always say, "We need more #OwnVoices stories about minority experiences! We need to support authors/artists/etc. with autism and other neurodivergences!"

So you're like, "Oh! Well, okay, here's my character with autism, their autism and life experiences are literally based on mine. :)"

And then once they realize it's a real lived experience and not just a cutesy, sanitized, happy story they go, "Oh nvm we don't want that shit. Wtf is that?"

Like damn what the fuck do you people want from us lmao

--

[louthingg]

i love now vulcans are unintentionally autistic coded

they’re supposedly emotionless aliens, when in fact they experience emotion much more intensely than humans (they express it differently)

they’re widely misunderstood creatures, with a whole lot of stigma and stereotypes surrounding them

they have periods of time where their emotions and bodies are completely out of control—for wildly different reasons than autistic people, but i still find the results (embarrassment, being treated as taboo, etc..) to be somewhat similar to meltdowns

they have extremely sensitive hands, and avoid using them when they can (sensory issues)

they can sense the emotions of those around them very easily and tend to get extremely overwhelmed by it (hyper empathy)

they don’t understand sarcasm, and tend to take everything very literally

and so so so much more

hdgfhdjjd spock my love <33 and all my other beloved vulcans i love them an unhealthy amount 😔

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Am I the asshole for saying I prefer to date autistic people?

🐑🐑

So, I am not autistic. I am diagnosed with ADHD and BPD and it can be somewhat similar to autism, but not quite.

A majority, if not all, of my friends are autistic. Including my best friend who I love more than anything, so, I’m constantly surrounded by people on the spectrum.

A few days ago, this subject came up in a discord server I’m in and I explained that I, even as an allistic person, prefer to date autistic people because it’s more comfortable for me. I have some theories as to why this is, but I just get along with people on the spectrum way better than with allistic people.

I think it’s mostly that I struggle with reading people as well, but in a different way. My bpd just always makes me assume that people are pissed at me or don’t like me, but otherwise I do very well in social interactions. I don’t really have this problem with my friends, because they’re the type to tell me if I did something that makes them uncomfortable and then we’ll talk it out. Boom, problem solved.

I don’t like when people make a huge deal out of it and refuse to even tell me what’s wrong. It stresses me out severely, especially when I can clearly tell that something is wrong.

Plus most of my interests just tend to overlap with those of autistic people.

Also, I just want to make clear that autism goes far beyond struggling with social interactions or not recognizing sarcasm. And that those things aren’t even true for a lot of autistic people. Don’t worry, I’m aware of these things, I’m just trying to explain why I feel this way as briefly as possible.

But yeah, I just get along better with autistic people and they make me feel more at ease. When I explained this, one of the people on the discord server told me that’s ableist and fetishisizing. Keep in mind, I talked about it in a very innocent way.

I tried to explain that I’ve mostly only had positive experiences with autistic partners, because they didn’t treat me like a demon for having bpd and actually took the time to educate themselves about it and how to help me out when I need it. And I did the same for them in return. It was always a very loving and supportive relationship. Plus, I usually serve as the sarcasm translator for my friends and partner (I don’t have one atm), which I really enjoy doing.

The discord person said it just sounds weird and belittling, which was not my intention at all. Also, they’re not autistic either. Most of my autistic friends that I’ve talked about this with just agreed and told me it’s perfectly understandable.

But it’s still bothering me, so I just wanted to ask some other people. Just to get a feel for how this sort of statement comes across to others. I’d also love to hear from autistic people!

(please don’t try to diagnose me with autism, I’ve gone through multiple tests and it’s very clear that I’m not on the spectrum)

tl;dr - I, an allistic guy, said I prefer autistic partners because it’s more comfortable for me and another allistic person said it’s weird and ableist.

So, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[jasper-is-autistic-old-blog]

i would like other autistic people to weigh in on this if you have an opinion.

i find tone tags really inaccessible sometimes. they're hard for me to understand because i have a hard time with acronyms and with my memory.

i can remember a few like /j means joke and /s means sarcasm, and a couple others, but most of them just make the sentence even harder to understand. i would much rather see someone put the whole word in. like:

"im going to go to the zoo and steal a penguin! /joking"

or something. or put clarification in parenthesis if you think your sentence could be misunderstood.

on the other hand, the ones i do understand are definitely helpful. i just think having the full word written out as a tone indicator is more helpful. to me anyway.

let me know if y'all also have issues with this.

im mostly talking to other autistic people, but anyone else can feel free to share your experience as well!

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

did you know that…

while autism functioning labels never really had set diagnosable descriptions like autism levels & autism itself in DSM, so different clinicians may have different definitions, but—

did you know that for many of them (more than you imagine, even now), what different between high functioning & low functioning is just. intellectual disability?

way they use is:

high functioning autism = autism without intellectual disability

low functioning autism = autism with intellectual disability

(so back in asperger’s vs autistic disorder diagnosis days, asperger’s & high functioning autism/HFA & low functioning autism actually all mean slightly different things)

.

yes, one thing tumblr autism community tend get wrong is: unlike autism ADHD learning disabilities, intellectual disability (as single disorder) *directly* affect *everything* about person. from conceptual/cognitive/thinking/learning/etc to social to daily living & adaptive functioning to everything you can think of. and autism community tend downplay ID & ignore autistics with ID. so someone with even mild intellectual disability can be quite different than someone with similar presentation of autism but without ID. however—

intellectual disability being only criteria for medical label, that follow you n impact you for rest of life, that claim to describe how much you overall “function” (want everyone imagine be told by everyone that you function lowly). is wrong.

am nonverbal. have high support needs & need 24/7 someone close by. diagnosed with autism that border level 2 & 3. have many severe symptoms, very impaired theory of mind & often do not even understand people exist & have own different thought n feelings that not like my own, have little to no interest in social, cannot mask n is visibly autistic, have behavioral issues, motor skill lower than bottom 1% of age group, etc etc

& another autistic with maybe mild ID, who with support & hard work is living more independently, who struggles but can speak by mouth, who have job, who with right guidance have enough social skills to keep some good in person friends

am would be called high functioning. n second person, low functioning. all because they have ID while me, don’t.

so, me get “very fortunate (sarcasm)” experience of be grouped in category n be black sheep n be expected assumed able to & be questioned why can’t do things other “high functioning” autistics can do, because they have lower support needs than me & lower autism levels than me. while second person get assumed they not able do things it too dangerous too risky & others be shocked about them do every small thing, simply because they have ID & thus must be low functioning, not because they actually cannot do it.

though. even if there someone like me but have ID. still don’t think anyone should be told they so terrible at functioning they “function lowly.”

diagnoses can be important & having comorbid disorder especially something as general as ID can mean different things compare to someone without that comorbid disorder. but language about person should be individualized based on each person, not something general that only look at diagnoses n not the person. and, that language need be actual respectful about person, because that who we are: people. even if some of us have a LOT of struggles where we physically depend on other people 24/7.

(n everytime talk about autism functioning labels, feel need to say: forcibly labeling someone with functioning labels problematic because everything just said. not because all autistics same & by same, mean verbal low support needs)