Published on 12, July, 2020
And what do you wish they would stop doing/saying?
I wish they knew that we aren’t all like Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory. I wish they would stop saying things like “everyone is a little bit autistic” as it effectively (if not intentionally) downplays the struggles we face on a daily basis.
beautifully said Eleonora
I wish they could understand that we are worth getting to know rather than pretending we don't exist.
Miss Understood said:If anything, I think I have too much empathy at times. I’ve been told I put other people’s needs before my own.
This is me completely. Although I embrace it as others have said on here before it can be a curse. I can feel pain from being empathetic and extreme joy. I do hide how much empathy I have from people as I know they would find me very strange. What a shame I feel I cannot project that to the outside world and I’ve been called emotionless before.
Miss Understood said:I wish they would stop saying things like “everyone is a little bit autistic” as it effectively (if not intentionally) downplays the struggles we face on a daily basis.
This always upsets and offends me more than it should. I think because I've struggled quite a lot and whilst I try not to blame it all on my autism I know that in all honesty it has played a large part so to see those who haven't had to go through my daily struggles downplay it as just this casual thing every has offends me a little. It's the same with anxiety and depression when people compare it to whenever they've been nervous or sad etc. it's not the same thing and I really wouldn't wish them on anyone. I'm glad that people don't have to go through what I go through and I wouldn't really want them to experience it but at the same time part of me would like them to have a taster, 24hrs, just to get that perspective and realise it's not a trivial thing.
You're only looking at the tree, not the whole forest, you do not know the true meaning of peace.
You all think you have leading roles in this world and do not think about death, soothed by peace you've become shallow. One who does not know pain cannot possibly understand true peace.
I wish they knew this.
I wish they could see how hard we try to fit in and be like everyone else and that they weren't so judgemental of us.
Absolutely! There is obviously lots of overlap between both communities too!
As someone who is both, I have noticed similarities too.
Amerantin (former member) said:I think we're much less visible so we're not overtly discriminated against as a group in the way LGBTQIA+ people are.
To some extent yes, however if we were not that visible then why would so many members of our community have experienced bullying and other traumatic experiences? I don’t expect you to answer this, it is just a thought!
For example, many people who could be autistic are described as outcasts etc so people know we are different, they are just not accepting of differences.
Amerantin (former member) said: We face individual microaggressions because of how we present rather than who we are, if that makes sense.
Absolutely! It’s the every day invalidation and gaslighting we experience that has a cumulative effect on our community.
Amerantin (former member) said:If there was more of an autistic or neurodivergent community things could be so much better for us.
Ditto! Community is so important for wellbeing!
I think we're much less visible so we're not overtly discriminated against as a group in the way LGBTQIA+ people are. We face individual microaggressions because of how we present rather than who we are, if that makes sense.
If there was more of an autistic or neurodivergent community things could be so much better for us.
IrishInManchesterUK said:Much of this has parallels with the LGBT community
Absolutely! I completely agree! We face prejudice in a similar way to the LGBTQIA+ community too.
^^ wot e sed!
That we are in fact morer cleverer.
If anything, I think I have too much empathy at times. I’ve been told I put other people’s needs before my own.
It does seem that those who shout the loudest about something are often the worst offenders. For example, the political activist left screams that everyone else is a racist, yet they themselves are rabidly, proudly racist.
The gay community is incredibly judgemental and unaccepting despite how they act and pretend otherwise, in my personal and lived experience
Indeed, we do not always know how to show it, and in my case I seem to not be able to pick up the signs that it is called for, but i do have it.
Much of this has parallels with the LGBT community and even within the gay community where being gay and a traditional Catholic becomes an issue - or being part of the Irish truth and patriot movement, living abroad as part of the Irish diaspora, being a traditional Catholic and being LGBT (or being gay and not being LGBT) - yet all of these things are not mutually exclusive to each other, according to any standards
I have another one - we are very capable of feeling empathy. It’s just that we don’t always know how to show it. I have been accused of lacking empathy when in fact I’m a very empathetic person (I don't mean that in a self-congratulatory way). This stereotype that we are emotionally cold and robotic is really harmful.
1. I wish they knew that deep down we are not that different.
2. I wish they knew there's more than one way to interpret the world, and it doesn't necessarily have to revolve around you all the time.
3. I wish they knew we care, desire, and value love, friendship, connection, and belonging just like everyone else.
4. I wish they knew that the brain is not just in our heads, but in our entire body, and a differently attuned nervous system can look really weird, but is not necessarily wrong.
5. I wish they knew that a life has dignity and is worth living, regardless of the fact that you understand it or not.