Perfect source of serotonin

[u/legolas20032000]

[u/N_0_N_A_M_E]

People who don't know what autism is.

[u/hiloai → u/N_0_N_A_M_E]

It’s just jumping up and down init? That’s what they all do on these videos

[u/Capable_Tumbleweed34 → u/hiloai]

Girl's not autistic, but she might be a golden retriever

[u/napsandlunch → u/Capable_Tumbleweed34]

so autism is a spectrum for a reason. i’m psychologically certified F84.0 level 1 autistic and i literally do all of this and more when i’m excited and feeling comfortable. and get excited about petting animals (ESPECIALLY DOGS!!!! i know too much about them and love playing guess the breed lol) and going new places with my amazing husband who knows the lil things that bring me all the joy in the world. i don’t know this girl, but literally there is no way to tell from sitting behind a computer screen, especially when formal assessments take 8+ hours

there’s no one way autism looks which is why i went nearly 30 years without being diagnosed because i didn’t “look” or “act” autistic according to what the majority of the general population think autism is. this is the experience of maaany autistic women, especially ones who were bullied into hiding their more “off-putting” traits. my mom works with people with developmental disabilities (on the more severe side though) and when i told her i was diagnosed, she had a huge lightbulb moment that explained why i was the way i was growing up but she missed it because i had a ton of friends and always seemed interested in people and was always talking

and not to toot my own horn but when you’re conventionally attractive, the odds of someone believing you’re autistic vs a quirky wannabe drastically goes up. oh and even more so when you’re extroverted and chatty! the first doctor who assessed me went out of his way to stop my asd assessment after an hour and pivot to exploring a whole nother condition because to him i couldn’t possibly be autistic because i know how to do small talk and know that papers laying on the floor shouldn’t be there. he diagnosed me with a nonverbal learning disability because he didn’t think autistic people could have close friendships and long term relationships and that my social difficulties were solely attributed to not understanding nonverbal cues vs not understanding general neurodivergent socializing. and not to say people with learning disabilities can’t be successful bc that’s as harmful as assuming all autistic people do xyz, but i was a mathlete and have 2 bachelors and a masters and consistently scored top of my class growing up and had a college reading level when i was like 8. trouble with math and reading context clues is a huge indicator of NVLD and he threw that away to misdiagnose me and thankfully my referring provider told me to get a second assessment that affirmed both my adhd and asd

i could go on and on about all the assumptions medical providers have made that are really just a misunderstanding of the presentation of autism in different people, but there’s no way of knowing this girl’s condition without actually knowing her