this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2026
32 points (97.1% liked)

Autism

10098 readers
372 users here now

A community for respectful discussion and memes related to autism acceptance. All neurotypes are welcome.

Community:

Values

  • Acceptance
  • Openness
  • Understanding
  • Equality
  • Reciprocity
  • Mutuality
  • Love

Rules

  1. No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments e.g: racism, sexism, religious hatred, homophobia, gatekeeping, trolling.
  2. Posts do not need be related to autism, off-topic discussions are allowed. This is a safe space where people with autism can feel comfortable discussing whatever they feel like discussing, as long as it does not violate the standing rules.
  3. Your posts must include a text body. It doesn't have to be long, it just needs to be descriptive.
  4. Do not request donations.
  5. Be respectful in discussions.
  6. Do not post misinformation.
  7. Mark NSFW content accordingly.
  8. Do not promote Autism Speaks.
  9. General Lemmy World rules.
  10. No bots. Humans only.

Encouraged

  1. Open acceptance of all autism levels as a respectable neurotype.
  2. Funny memes.
  3. Respectful venting.
  4. Describe posts of pictures/memes using text in the body for our visually impaired users.
  5. Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
  6. Questions regarding autism.
  7. Questions on confusing situations.
  8. Seeking and sharing support.
  9. Engagement in our community's values.
  10. Expressing a difference of opinion without directly insulting another user.
  11. Please report questionable posts and let the mods deal with it.

.

Helpful Resources

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Lexam@lemmy.world
32
Subclinical autists, let's talk (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 6 days ago by schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works to c/autism@lemmy.world
48 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I've been internet-diagnosed with autism plenty of times, but the one time I went to get evaluated, they said I didn't have "it."

But if it's a spectrum with different combinations of different traits at different levels of intensity, maybe a diagnosis is irrelevant and what matters is what your constellation of traits actually is, regardless of an official diagnosis (which, let's face it, is probably highly subjective outside of some constellations--that is to say, with a long enough list of psychologits, I could probably get a dx).

Personally, for me, what this means is I can look to autistic literature to see what resonates with me without worrying about the fact that I don't share many of the hard markers for autism. For instance, my investment in the truth often conflicts with social niceties even though I can read people's emotions. I can see myself as an unofficially atypical person in a lot of ways.

I'll leave my resonsances in the comments below. Feel free to share yours.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] strawberry_enjoyer42@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Honestly, I should probably read more about autism. It seems that every time I hear something about autism, I think "oh wow, that's me!"

I don't particularly want to be diagnosed yet: the current US administration is concerning, and I'm not sure what the practical benefits would be.

[–] schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Your comment has been filed under "Tips for the Coming Genocide." I don't check the hispanic box on ANYTHING these days.

But the CURRENT benefit of getting an autism diagnosis is that it qualifies you for Americans with Disability Act protections (ADA) at work. For instance, if they're trying to fire you for being "anti-social", for instance, they couldn't legally do that if you had an autism diagnosis.

I knew a guy that introduced himself immediately as having autism. He was socially quite terrible and would go into fits of rage when he felt people weren't respecting him. His old store didn't want to risk firing him and risking an ADA lawsuit, so they put him forward as an internal candidate to our store with absolutely GLOWING reviews (I'd worked at his store for a few weeks and saw that he was a disaster), and the reviews were so glowing that he was promoted at our store into a SUPERVISORY position. Within a few months, everyone hated him and he almost got into a few physical altercations with other coworkers. But even then--and there's cameras everywhere--he wasn't fired, just transfered to a different position, setting up displays at various stores where he could work alone.

I felt bad for him because he was really wanted a lot of social contact even though he bungled every relationship and I don't think he'd be happy working by himself.

Edit: Other benefits of ADA protections are you can get accomodations that make work easier, like being allowed to wear headphones, etc.

[–] strawberry_enjoyer42@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 5 days ago

I'm not at risk of being fired, and I don't need any extra support (though headphones would be nice). Overall, not worth risking the diagnosis.