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It's totally crazy to me how many theories I see in in the autistic community about how allistic and autistic people are. The past few weeks it's been like

Autistic person 1: I've realized I do X a lot

Autistic person 2: I've realized I do X a lot

...

Autistic person n: I've realized I do X a lot

Autistic person n + 1 (not aware of previous posts): Only allistics do X because they're inferior

I don't think I've ever seen a post about something "only allistic people do" where my reaction hasn't been "uh I see autistic people do that everyday." Like you're autistic, go out and observe the world a bit. Test your theory, talk with your other autistic friends and see if they do that.

I don't know where these people are getting their information. But wherever it is, it's not an honest or accurate source of information.

#actuallyautistic @actuallyautistic
@ActuallyAutistic group
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Dave the Nomad 🇨🇦
Not sure if you're paraphrasing or somebody actually said "inferior" - but anybody claiming "a group of people that isn't me is inferior" is also contributing to the world's problems.

I've found what you said to be true in my own experience as well, eg a thing that I've read Autistic people say only Allistics do, I actually do.

There's too much variation of experiences and behaviours to definitively say certain things are exclusively Autistic or Allistic.

@actuallyautistic
@ActuallyAutistic group
Dave the Nomad 🇨🇦
I also believe saying "only Allistics do X" is harmful to our community, because if you're diagnosed or identify as Autistic and you read something like that, it contributes to invalidating your experience and could make your doubt yourself.

@actuallyautistic
@ActuallyAutistic group
Dave the Nomad 🇨🇦
Another thing I'm thinking about is that these sorts of "Allistics are like X" comments are based on personal observation.

But neurotypes are complicated! Unless you know a person incredibly well - and maybe not even then - it's not that easy to say someone is Allistic. Just because they don't identify as Autistic doesn't make them Allistic. They could be highly masking and/or undiagnosed.

"Everybody who doesn't seem like me is Allistic" is not a correct assumption.

@actuallyautistic
@ActuallyAutistic group
Ants Are Everywhere
@actuallyautistic

This is totally true.

The easiest place to see this is with the undiagnosed parents of a diagnosed autistic kid.

Very often you have parents that grew up before we knew anything about autism and they developed various maladaptive coping strategies. The parents never realize they're autistic, and the kids grow up thinking their parents are difficult because neurotypical people are difficult.

I also think autistic parents who didn't realize they were autistic probably played a role in the discredited "refrigerator mother" theory of autism.

The world is full of autistic people who aren't aware they're autistic. And someone who's autistic will generally encounter a lot of them. Either in their immediate family (because of genetics) or because of their hobbies or choice of employment.
@ActuallyAutistic group
Hugs4friends ♾🇺🇦 🇵🇸😷
It would make it difficult for those parents to see any problems with their child's behaviour, if that behaviour mimics their own. By the same token, once a diagnosis is confirmed, their own behaviour leads them to their own realisation.😊 @dave @actuallyautistic
@Dave the Nomad 🇨🇦 @ActuallyAutistic group
Matthew
All the times your mom denied your autism in front of educators, and denied you medication when you knew you were different and begged her for it. Her chaperoning every school field trip and kept you next to her in the church pew, instead of letting you go to children's church. 😡

@ants_are_everywhere @dave @actuallyautistic
@Ants Are Everywhere @Dave the Nomad 🇨🇦 @ActuallyAutistic group
Ants Are Everywhere
I'm editorializing (which I hoped was obvious, but if not I apologize).

But there is sometimes an injured sense of superiority or contempt in these posts. I suspect that it's the ability to make people feel better about themselves by putting others down that really drives their spread.

For example, I don't think having a medical condition or disorder is a bad thing. But among people who do think it's a bad thing, you sometimes see them trying to define allism as a disorder. I think that's basically an inferiority argument (although sometimes mixed with satire).
Hugs4friends ♾🇺🇦 🇵🇸😷
If you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person. @dave
@Dave the Nomad 🇨🇦
Dave the Nomad 🇨🇦
I was just walking the dogs and thought of this too - it's often used in the context of people saying "but you don't look Autistic!" but it's equally valid applied to Autistic people who have never met another Autistic person IRL.

@ants_are_everywhere
@Ants Are Everywhere
Ants Are Everywhere
@actuallyautistic #ActuallyAutistic

I feel like a good rule of thumb is that if you're quantifying over an entire group of people you should be temperate in the claims you make. This goes extra if you're not a member of that group.
#actuallyautistic @ActuallyAutistic group
Ants Are Everywhere
@actuallyautistic

I mean specifically universal qualification like "all men do X". "not all men" is actually existential quantification and the burden of proof is much lower.

To show that "not all men own cats" for example, it's enough to exhibit a single man who doesn't own a cat.
@ActuallyAutistic group
nellie-m
@actuallyautistic

Okay. Cats aren’t a good example.

If you analyse a culture in which men hold the overwhelming number of positions of power, and you point that out, it’s a valid statement even with the odd non-male person in the odd leading position.

If you look at a culture shaped by allistics for allistics, and evaluate the impact it has on the lives of #actuallyAutistic people, saying „not only autistics“ or „not all allistics“ is neither helpful nor the point.
@ActuallyAutistic group
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