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Everyone's a little bit autistic...

Joe

At the moment this expression really annoys me, together with "we're all on the spectrum". I don't know if everyone is or I just happen to know a lot of people that are.  I can't suddenly tell if someone is autistic due to my own diagnosis.   I'm fairly newly diagnosed and didn't say anything until I was, because I wasn't sure if people would believe me. 

This expression really bugs me as I feel like it's people not listening to or belittling my lived experience.  I want to challenge it but I don't know how other just cutting people off giving me negative energy, any ideas?

Parents

  • Everyone probably is a bit in different ways. Human experience is a spectrum. However, do these factors cause everyone problems? Probably not. And the problems or difficulties that are there may come from a different source. I think people saying this comes from a place of trying to be empathetic but it often comes across as undermining the autistic experience. I like to use the cake analogy. You might have some eggs and butter but that does not make a cake.

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  • Everyone probably is a bit in different ways. Human experience is a spectrum. However, do these factors cause everyone problems? Probably not. And the problems or difficulties that are there may come from a different source. I think people saying this comes from a place of trying to be empathetic but it often comes across as undermining the autistic experience. I like to use the cake analogy. You might have some eggs and butter but that does not make a cake.

Children
  • in reply to Deleted User
    Unknown said:
    Everyone probably is a bit in different ways. Human experience is a spectrum. However, do these factors cause everyone problems? Probably not. And the problems or difficulties that are there may come from a different source. I think people saying this comes from a place of trying to be empathetic but it often comes across as undermining the autistic experience. I like to use the cake analogy. You might have some eggs and butter but that does not make a cake.

    Or in genetic terms:

    Almost all genetic risk factors for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) can be found in the general population, but the effects of this risk are unclear in people not ascertained for neuropsychiatric symptoms.

    https://www.nature.com/articles/ng.3529

    So you are quite correct with your description and analogy.

    The basic theme is that every human being has the same basic building blocks genetically, i.e., Cytosine (C), Guanine (G), Adenine (A) and Thymine (T) ~ with neurologically typical people being therefore the least autistic in genetic terms, neurologically atypical people being more autistic, and neurologically divergent people being the most autistic ~ if not entirely autistic to lesser or greater extents in diagnostic terms.

    Thus there can be or is more usually a massively significant difference between being on the autistic spectrum; and being on the autistic diagnostic spectrum.

  • in reply to Deleted User

    I came across something this weekend which said about 1 in 5 people are neurodivergent. I don't know if it's true but if so,  we actually might have things in common with more people than we think. For me, though,  there's always been a feeling inside...."my experience of the world is different to yours" with regards to most people. It's also a question of how different you FEEL among others. (No matter how much you look like you might fit in).