Published on 12, July, 2020
Since I went 'public' about my ASD diagnosis I've had more than one person say to me 'We're all on the spectrum mate'. At the time I found the comment slightly offensive, as if they were saying, 'You're not the only one who's got issues, just get over it', but on reflection, perhaps they have a point. In this crazy world where the borders of 'normality' are infinitely blurred, could it be that we are all on one big spectrum, but only some of us in the 'zone' that is currently classed as a disorder? I can't help wondering if everyone did the tests and questionnaires that I did when being assessed what percentage of the population would be diagnosed. The very first test I did came as quite a shock because the questions seemed so very appropriate to how I was feeling, and it returned a result of high probability. I can't decide if that's just because I do actually have ASD or because some of those questions would apply to anyone doing the test. I'd be interested to hear people's opinion on this, especially if anyone out there has done the test and returned a negative result i.e. low probability.
"Everyone is on the spectrum" along with "We're all a little bit autistic" are two of the most offensive and invalidating phrases frequently encountered by autistic people.
They are myths perpetuated by people who do not understand autism.
https://autismunderstood.co.uk/what-actually-is-autism/autism-myths/
The above website explains it well:
No, no, just no! I think people sometimes say this to try and empathise. However, it often has the opposite effect. Yes, there are traits that are part of an autism profile, that are shared with people who aren’t autistic. This is because they are human traits, and we are all human! However, the extent to which an autistic person experiences them, and the impact it has on daily life, will be very different from someone who is not autistic. One point to note here is that there are undiagnosed autistic individuals who may be unaware of their autistic identity but share these traits.
I think it basically comes from a lack of understand of what the autistic spectrum is. Many people wrongly think it is linear, a straight line with not autistic at one end and the most autistic it is possible to be at the other. The spectrum is better understood as a spiky profile. There is a good explanation here:
https://the-art-of-autism.com/understanding-the-spectrum-a-comic-strip-explanation/