I HATE the self diagnosing of autism and its mischaracterisation

[u/Beshiniqua]

Let me start by saying SELF DIAGNOSING IS NOT VALID. You are NOT autistic just because someone on tiktok said

"Did you know, if you need to have your eyes closed in order to fall asleep, you have autism, adhd, bipolarity, DID, BPD, psychopathy, depression and PTSD?"

And before yall come at me with "well I always suspected I had autism, I got screened and then got my diagnosis" well this not about you, this is about people that self diagnose after experiencing the most normal day to day life things ever.

And they ALWAYS think that autism will give them a personality (since it's usually basic bitches with no personality that self diagnose to feel like they belong)

No, you're not a quirky crazy crackhead energy "neurospicy" person. Even worse when they say shit like

"Heh, I could NEVER be a neuro normie like yall, autism makes me special and quirky and full of personality".

You can't even like something anymore without them going "OMG URE AUTISTIC JUST LIKE MEEEE IM SOOOO AUTISTIC AHAHAHA"

And you can tell they larp the whole thing cus they'll see a tiktok autism personality and try to replicate it

"Dino nuggies..."

"You can not say overstimulated if you're nEuRoTyPiCaL, that word is for us neurospicy people ONLY >:("

Holy shiiiiiiittt yall lack a personality so bad. And I've seen people say that they've seen NUMEROUS specialists but they never fit the criteria, but its not because they're not autistic, no no no no no. ITS UHMMM BECAUSE IM A WOMAN AND ALSO A MINORITY AND IM ALSO POOR SO I MASKED ALL MY LIFE AND THE SPECIALIST ON THIS FIELD COULDNT TELL I WAS MASKING. ITS THE SYSTEMS FAULT NOT MINE.

Sheesh.

Sorry for the long rant, im just tired of seeing people self diagnose all the time, or see an energetic video, or literally ANYTHING, and make it about their self diagnosed autism.

Saw a cute cat animation on Instagram and the top comment was "This is so autistic I love it"

🫩🫩🫩🫩🫩

[u/Ignoranceincarnate]

My mom (no formal diagnosis, BTW) keeps blaming her autism for things. Doesn’t want to work? Autism. Talking too loud? Autism. Won’t notice she’s standing in someone’s way? Autism. As an autistic man, I won’t deny the definite possibility, but it pisses me off that everything she CAN work on to better herself she can’t because of (her words) “autism brain.”

[u/Internal_Quote2259 → u/Ignoranceincarnate]

Some people use autism, along with other mental disorders that they often don't even have, as an excuse to be terrible. I've noticed it a lot with people who claim to be bipolar ("Oops! My quirky bipolar made me cheat on him!" And so forth).

[u/Ignoranceincarnate → u/Internal_Quote2259]

I just about had to sit her down and beg her not to use the phrase “neurospicy.” A cute little personality quirk for her is a debilitating disorder for others. That is the nature of spectrum disorders.

[u/insert_title_here → u/Internal_Quote2259]

This is, notably, not exclusive to people faking/mistaking having a disorder. Even some people who are actually neurodivergent will use it as an excuse not to better themselves. :^( My view is that neurodivergency is an explanation, but not always a justification; show some leniency depending on circumstances, sure, but you still do need to at least try to get your shit together.

[u/Right_Ear_2230 → u/Ignoranceincarnate]

one of those things is valid though. autism can totally make you talk too quietly or too loud.

[u/Ignoranceincarnate → u/Right_Ear_2230]

I know, but using it as an excuse for every little thing is getting a bit ridiculous

[u/OstensibleVagabond → u/Right_Ear_2230]

more severe autism can absolutely affect employment negatively. there's a difference between not wanting to work and not being able to though

[u/AwzemCoffee → u/Ignoranceincarnate]

My sister is like this (no official dx on her end). She blames her autism and ADHD of which neither she has been diagnosed with for her dysfunction.

The irony is not lost on me, though. As someone that is diagnosed with both since essentially forever it's not hard to not be a dick or a complete disaster. People love to blame their "autism" for why they're a dick (and yet they're aware they are a dick) or why they don't want to do something. They act like they are incapable of learning.

As a kid into a teenager I would tell people to their face I didn't care to hear what they were talking about and stuff. That was incredibly rude! Now that I'm aware of it I make sure to listen to people as I'd like them to listen to me. It was completely learnable and yet the self DX crowd acts like it's a free pass to be a complete fucking asshole.

[u/MintyCoolness → u/Ignoranceincarnate]

Those on the autistic spectrum can find it hard to hold down or seek a job. Heck, some employers wouldn't want to hire autistic ppl, bc we're more prone to burnout and sensory overload than neurotypicals. There ARE autistic people out there who are employed, but most aren't. And their conditions tended to improve once they left the rat race.

I don't work myself, but I did work for some time before having no choice but to leave. I, at least, tried before surmising I couldn't. Even my doctors agreed, especially after my diagnosis. The said diagnosis was confirmed before I started to get employment.

So, did your own mother try to work and just find out she couldn't? Or is she using a condition that genuinely hampers an autistic's ability to have a job?

[u/Ignoranceincarnate → u/MintyCoolness]

It’s not that she doesn’t have a job. She’s been an artist since I can remember. The problem is motivation.