not all ppl need to be utterly debilitated in order to be considered autistic, in fact if you do feel that way please seek help. it’s not easy to live with in a world of neurotypicals but let’s not pretend that thousands of ppl are most likely undiagnosed bc of lack of access to the right treatment and resources, as well as the criteria being changed nearly all the time. you’re right that some ppl exaggerate but our disability awareness is still relatively juvenile
People do this with adhd, ocd, and depression too. Also with physical conditions like EDS and POTS. It happens every time awareness is raised about a condition. The people doing it for attention will move on to something else eventually. But I will say that TikTok is what convinced me to bring up autism with my psych (who agreed I might have it), but that was after I did my own research. Cause I’m not gonna trust the research and knowledge of a TikTok influencer
People armchair diagnose me all the time because “you do things I do!” Or “your just like XYZ on TikTok”. There’s nothing wrong with being autistic but I’m not. I’ve even had a neuropsych assessment for another reason and it came back completely normal. At this point I don’t even know what to say without being rude
There wouldn’t be as much of an issue with it if some of them weren’t spreading misinformation or using it as an excuse. I had a “friend” who kept saying they were autistic as an excuse to bully people, and that’s not ok. Especially bc they weren’t autistic (at least not diagnosed or suspected by a professional)
As I said, modern categories have been collapsed into general ASD. As for people who used to be considered Asperger’s finding the term offensive, I can’t say that I understand where they’re coming from and won’t stop using the word. The term Asperger’s was always useful for me as I could explain it to people and they would actually be able to understand me, as opposed to just saying “you’re so smart, why can’t you just understand X!” And then concluding I was just an awful person.
I’m aware of the origin of the term, I just don’t care. Hans Asperger was a man who lived in an evil time, he did evil things like most other people did. On the other hand he worked to save many people who likely would have been killed without his advocacy. Flawed man, evil time, I don’t see the need to engage in large scale revisions of naming conventions for outdated terms because we found something repugnant in the past.
he wasn’t actually a Nazi. He was associated with the NSDAP, as a professional in Nazi Germany that was pretty much mandatory. And flawed would be the word I use, just like with people who were members of the equally bloodthirsty Soviet communist party during the Soviet era. It was pretty much the cost of doing business, most people don’t take dangerous moral stands in times like that and Asperger did more than most.
Idek what she was on tbh. She said I did too well in school and understood too many jokes to be autistic. (the two funniest ppl ik are diagnosed w autism huh??) Absolutely no talk about social difficulties or sensory issues or anything else at all 😭 so like ig we’ll never know if I have it or not but tbh with everything that’s going on in the world I’m kinda glad I don’t have a diagnosis.
yes it was originally a word created to insult autistic people for being “stupid” inferring that all people with autism have a low IQ. So by telling someone who you think is dumb that they are that word, you’re telling them you think they’re acting like an autistic person. which shouldn’t be an insult because there’s nothing wrong with being autistic:)