'Tiktokification' of autism

I have actually found some informative creators on TikTok incredibly helpful, helping me understand that I am not the only person that thinks a certain way or acts a certain way towards things. I do find it very educational, helpful and great that it brings together a community of Neurodivergent people. I think for the purposes of being understood, these videos can help a great deal. I share them with my partner and mum a lot and it helps them understand a little more too. 

tik tok is full of fakes seeking attention, i wouldnt pay that any notice lol
its like that youtuber or twitch streamer or whatever that faked having tourettes just for attention and views. i dont trust any of them, at best they are just narccisists.

I use TikTok and I am seeing lots of videos to do with Autism. I feel that some people are genuinely helpful and informative. For me, it has been refreshing to see that the little things I do aren't just 'weird' and I'm not the only one doing them. 

However, I think it almost becomes 'cool' to follow what silly things people say and do on this app, and Autism is no exception. There are a lot of people out there taking the opportunity to seem 'different',  'special' or 'unique' when this can be quite harmful to the people who do have Autism and can suffer in their day to day life. 

There's a fine line on TikTok, but I don't think most people know where that line is. 

I quite like some of it, makes me feel more 'normal' and less worried/ashamed about it. But yeah, I agree it tends to minimise the struggles and presents a trendy/quirky picture of autism which may lead people to underestimate the difficulties.

The ADHD ones annoy me. I find it really irritating when I see videos of people massively overacting the hyperactivity/lack of executive function making it all a big joke. Executive function is an issue for autistics as well but we could be sharing tips on how to manage it as best as we can, not just laughing about how we never get anything done. (Do yoga. Do meditation. Do exercise. Eat nutritious meals. Keep a steady work/sleep routine. Write to do lists. Write everyhting in a diary.)

Social media in general all runs on algorithms which means if you accidentally "step in poo" with a mis-click the system thinks you must like doing the digital equivalent of stepping in others smelly digital leavings (toxic channels/creators/etc), and so it will throw more of the digital poo at you until it takes a toll on your mental health and a lot of people make the fatal mistake of deleting themselves when they should just delete the apps. People also love to manufacture outrage for clicks because they think going viral off the insecurities of other humans will fill the void left by the absence of genuine self esteem, so you have to be very careful when watching/reading anything online to make sure hatemongers aren't predating upon your fears to lure you down their extremist rabbit holes.

I think, if you can find the right creators on there they are very informative an the communities they have are great, i follow a lady called Kelly an she does gentle parenting as do i  and before my son's diagnosis i asked her if there was different ways in which it could be used for children on the spectrum and she forwarded to me creators with a better understanding. But there are so many people on there who aren't it and i find it upsetting that there are people there who either mock autism, lie about having it which i saw just this week or are just sharing the wrong information! i think it is hit or miss with the app. x

An attention-seeking app.

Used it briefly, in 2019, until it got OTT.

Well I watched a channel on YouTube called ‘Autistically Autistic’, and there are plenty of considerations made in those complications, that I think deepen and the subjective depth of the conversation.. It’s nice to see the more anecdotal perspectives of autistic, without having to wait for a book or listen to long-form conversation, it makes for a nice appetiser..

I'm actually okay with things like "a touch of the 'tism" when it's other autistic people saying it. It really does come across differently when autistic people joke about being autistic vs other people making fun of us from the outside, and I think it's important to allow everyone to handle this in the way that suits them best, and for some people that will be humour.

TikTok doesn't really allow for the time and space to talk about this sort of thing properly so I don't use it: I suspect a lot of misunderstandings there are caused by limitations on video length and content. It's also harder to avoid content you don't like there in comparison with something like Tumblr where you have to actively choose what you see, so it's basically an outrage machine.

I have found that certain people talk about it really negatively which is fine they have freedom of speech and can say what they want however a lot of people can view those videos and people already have their own views on 'us', they don't need help to make them more negative. Someone the other day called me a horrible term beginning with r (6 letters) and then claimed that an autistic person on tiktok had used it so they thought it was OK!!!

However, I follow a lot of autistic tiktokkers and I love that I identify with what they are saying and the amount of comments where people are relating to the videos is really lovely, almost like a community of autistics in the comments.

I’ve never used TikTok but i imagine subtlety and depth are not commonplace. Best to avoid it I’d say.