an eloquent take down of the "people are self diagnosing autism to be trendy and for attention" take that morons have been echoing on tiktok

[video description is the reblogs, its very long]

I've officially been diagnosed with autism!

In my autism evaluation today, my evaluator said "whether or not we can give you an on-the-books diagnosis, you do have autistic traits. I would never want to take away language that has helped you find a supportive community or skills and tools that help you navigate the world. Don't use the diagnosis as the be-all end-all measure of your validity."

Autism Diagnosis Criteria Explained

@neuro_lou

I hate the expression, “you’re an adult so you must be able to *insert thing here*”

Like… some people can’t ??

part of being autistic is slowly realising that you actually live in chronic pain and all your random little physical blips and errors might actually be caused by a chronic illness???

No, but seriously, no one told me that it doesn't hurt their elbows when they shake sauce bottles... it doesn't hurt their wrists and hands to write.... it doesn't hurt their feet to drive.... they don't randomly "lose grip" on objects or find keyboards or controllers difficult to hold... I was under the assumption this was all relatively normal?

Part of the reason I didn't realise this is because I don't always realise I'm in pain. My autism already makes me hyposensitive to pain, but because my "neutral" is to always be in like a 3/10 pain state, I don't always know that I'm in pain...

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making a collection

Very fucking frustrating to see autism being reduced to a fun character trait that barely impacts functioning by ppl on tumblr. I was diagnosed age 6 and although I would not be myself without it, my autism has absolutely had a major negative impact on my life.

I have suffered and currently suffer so much because of it and that is something that I can't afford not to recognize. I'm not saying "hey autism is nothing but suffering and pain" I'm saying that talking about autism like it's the Special Interest Disorder is a reductive way to look at something that is an inescapable and often very difficult reality for the people who have it.

EDIT: This post is about headcanons, not real people's experiences. Why the fuck would I care what people say about their own autism.

I'm upset with tiktok. Particularly the mental health aspect of tiktok. It's so inaccurate most of the time but people act like it's not. You shouldn't take mental advice from tiktok. Tiktok is partially responsible for setting back the public's perception of OCD, we were gaining traction in helping people understand that intrusive thoughts don't make us, killers, creeps, or dangerous.

Now we've got tiktok people telling everyone that intrusive thoughts are about wanting to eat too much candy, or poke a Llama in the face because it's so cute. No those are just thoughts, normal thoughts, impulsive thoughts.

They are likely not ego dystonic. They likely do not clash with your sense of self, you most likely do not have a negative or anxious reaction to these thoughts. Intrusive thoughts are unwanted, scary, distressing thoughts that pop into your mind randomly and you don't want them.

People with ocd can't control their thoughts, but now we have people calling OCD people and people with other conditions monsters because they have real intrusive thoughts that follow a common theme, hurting others, doing something bad or perverted. Or something you don't want to do, it can even be thoughts about joining another religion or secretly being a sexuality and not knowing it.

Intrusive thoughts can be anything, but they are always unpleasant and unwanted, they are considered to be ego dystonic meaning they do not go along with a person's sense of self.

When I was younger I would have thoughts about pushing people into the street and them getting run over by cars, I hated those thoughts. I didn't want them, those were intrusive thoughts. Tiktok has harmed OCD acceptance and imagine what it's going to do to Autism, which I also have, if people keep taking advice from tiktok. Please don't take tiktok advice

If you have an issue with deficit based language, I used it because that is the language used in the diagnostic criteria, and I'm basing this poll in the diagnostic criteria. I use deficit based language for myself, but I understand that many autistic people are uncomfortable with that language being used for them

Like, a diagnosis is a tool. How much it helps or hurts depends on how it's used. You're going to have more control over how it's used as an independent adult than a child or an adult who is more dependent on others. Even when it's controlled by others, the chances that they will do good things with it increase with more widespread understanding and available services based on that understanding. Your liberating adult autism diagnosis that helped you accept yourself now is likely not at all the experience that your early diagnosed peer got. The same system that missed you has also massively mistreated those it picked up on.

On the topic of "vaguely/poorly-worded questions in autism screening tests", when I got my official autism diagnosis the test was administered by an examiner (rather than being self-administered). For at least a third of the questions, instead of picking an answer I would say something like "it depends / I think this was trying to ask about X but it really sounds like Y instead / the premise of this question is completely flawed". The examiner's final report used that as additional evidence for autism. 😆

Lol that is a classic autistic way of answering those questions! You can tell the tests were mostly designed by neurotypicals haha

Got my autism diagnosis on the birthday of the autism king himself

Hi everyone,

I saw this on Reddit a few days ago and wanted to share it. It talks about the cost of getting a diagnosis if you’re neurodivergent.

This is crazy. How are others supposed to get the right hell and support if people aren’t even able to pay? It’s so expensive, and I understand that doctors aren’t cheap. But I just don’t understand why.

It’s like everyone is after money and not considering/thinking of helping others.

created by yours truly…..