It’s so cruel. To be rejected your whole life because you’re different, and to finally come into the autism community and be rejected, is such a crushing and cruel reality.
Tbh I think that the whole "You just want to be special" and "You just want to be autistic for attention" are big projections. You can tell, because they assume that any attention you receive will be positive, when much of the time being autistic will bring you negative attention from people. I think a lot of people who say these things either deeply desire attention themselves, or don't feel special at all and will happily tear others down with their low self-esteem.
Late diagnosed adults aren't a fad. More plausibly, things are just getting that dire out there that masking is ceasing to be manageable in the workplace, and there's a lot of overdue psychological catch-up that results in severe burnout hitting the population of the planet in 202X.
100% this. I know people in their 30s who just got diagnosed due to seeking help for their mental health. Autistic burnout is terrible but thankfully there's more information about autism than a few decades ago which is precisely why so many people are getting diagnosed nowadays! This is great, people shouldn't be struggling so much or forcing themselves into doing things that are seen as 'part of life' if it's costing their mental health because society isn't 'made' for people like them while dismissing their struggles because they think they are making excuses or being too dramatic. Late-diagnosed people are also seen as 'quirky' and 'weird', yet when they get a diagnosis many people don't believe them because although they think they are 'weird' they also think they are too 'normal' to have autism.
These same people would've probably been insisting left-handedness is a fad when it stopped being a stigmatized thing/mandatory to teach everyone into right-handedness.
Yeah, I'm not functioning every Sunday. The accumulation of sensory pressure, social nuance, and phobias I experience add up until I'm completely comotose at the end of the day. I want to help kids like me when I'm stable enough.
-I'd love to see the original creators who posted this react or at list engage with us. A lot of people these days don't want to listen to the other side, unfortunately. And they say we're the ones that don't have empathy.
this is one of the reasons I was so afraid of telling my doctor I wanted to pursue a diagnosis, hell I was even scared of reading about autism and TDAH. I had a whole disclaimer of "I swear I'm not doing this for attention, I know people think this is a fad, I know how this looks" and my doctor was perplexed I was even saying all that. Funny, I went through the same thing when I was coming out as Bi, I needed to reassure myself all the time I was not doint it for attention subconsciously which is, you know, such an insane thing to be worried about
this whole "you are just saying that because you want to feel special" is really triggering for me...I have heard that quite alot when I was a teen/child, before I knew about autism etc. usually when I asked for needing help with some things or for consideration of a sensory sensitivity of mine and I was shot down with words like those...about "no one gets special treatment" and "do you think you are better than us, asking for special treatment?" etc. I never understood this, what's this obsession with putting people down who are or act differently? and gaslighting them on top of it? as if someone else getting an accommodation is somehow threatening them...or maybe they needed some themselves and are just bitter and angry about not getting any?
The amount of times I've heard "no one gets special treatment" to then immediately see someone get "special treatment" aka receiving the accommodations that I asked for... is ridiculous. I eventually felt so horrible for even asking that I simply stopped and struggled in silence and refused to tell anyone that I needed help even when they asked me which usually lead to the "so you think you're better than us?" because I didn't openly ask for help anymore. It's just all around confusing. I didn't want to feel "special" and I definitely didn't feel better than others especially since I had been targeted/bullied as being weird, different, etc.
I am 50, and only figured out I am autistic about 5 years ago, and only really started exploring myself and my life through that lens in the past 2. and to hear this guy make weird nonsensical proclamations is ridiculous. The way I explain it to people when The subject of me not having an "official" diagnosis, is 1. I don't have the money to do so as my autism has made employment near impossible for me (got on disability this year, so that may change), and 2. if every time I looked at a snake I scream and defecate myself in terror, do I really need an official diagnosis to tell me I have a phobia of snakes? Also, imagine if I made a video where I said, "there's a test to see if you're black, don't take it, your not. people claim they are black because they want to feel special..." etc... Also, there are a LOT of right leaning autistic folks out there.
I don't want to be special. I just want justification and understanding to how I've been experiencing life for my entire life. I want it to make sense and Autism (alongside ADHD) are the only things I've ever found that even begin to make my life make any sort of sense. The only thing ever keeping me from discovering this about myself has been my own ignorance.
Usually when someone claims you're trying to be special with something specific they're very tone deaf ableist and possibly jealous like somehow you're going to get something they didn't. If only they truly knew how painful the bullying etc. can be after 51 yrs of living with it and not being helped with the worst challenges. It sucks dude!
About autistic people being more rejected socially than neurotypicals, I think it's because autistic people usually don't make facial expressions so people feel uncomfortable/confused as to how to talk to them or behave.
The whole "white priviledge" argument is especially such a strange detached thing to someone who doesn't live in the US. To me it just comes off as "my world view is incredibly narrow and globally shallow, and now I'm trying to fit something I don't properly understand through that filter."
I think it’s because this explosion of people coming out are mostly from the US (I haven’t looked too closely so I might be wrong on this part) so they’re trying to figure out why it’s like an epidemic in the US in particular.
As someone who is in intersectional debate circles, that guy would be laughed at. He just screams pretension. "White people just want to feel oppressed, right my friends of color, these people are the REAL racists?" If he educated himself he would easily realize the reason why these spaces are so white is because the diagnostic criteria have always been centered around how white men presented. POC are often overlooked and late diagnosed because their "strange behavior" is often dismissed due to racial prejudice and because POC don't see any representation of Nerodivergent POC in their culture or media. Also, they often come from economically disadvantaged communities, meaning that a large number of them can not have access to or the means to reach an official diagnosis, and unmasking can at times be dangerous to POC in America.
We are being late diagnosed because when we were kids, autism wasn’t a thing, no one knew what it was 50 years ago. Autistic people didn’t just start appearing out of nowhere! What do you think happens to those undiagnosed people of older generations? Do you think autism goes away? I don’t understand why this is so hard for people, especially “professionals”, to understand!
I started to understand myself more after my son was diagnosed. I don't need an official diagnosis myself, but certain things just started to make more sense once I learned more about my son. It gave me a framework to understand things that had been a part of me forever.
@@ruthhorowitz7625maybe not, but those autistic influencers are the reason many people, including myself, first realized our own autism. Most people who aren’t autistic aren’t going to genuinely believe they are.
"You're not autistic just seeking attention!" lol nah, believe me when I say, attention is literally the last thing I want 🤣Also Meg from I'm autistic, now what = awesome!
I get it. There is a lot of identity seeking out there. Anomy and atomization. I do have a lot of ambivalence about the whole intersectionality thing. I do sometimes wonder if we are being buried behind of a lot of identity dysphoric wolf crying. But who can judge who?
I got in a dispute with my brother a few years ago about this which might shed some insight. I am in my 30's, and was presenting autistic traits from an early age, including but not limited too stereotypical stimming and hyperlexia. I was placed in the T.A.G program at the school, recognized as a bit odd, and had no close friends, and eventually diagnosed with ASD. I was always lost in my own world, but (according to my parents) my brother was always competitive with me, outdoing me over and over again (to which I paid no attention). He actually got in a fight with me about 10 years ago where he boldly claimed I was not "really" autistic. So I asked him what he meant and what he expected of me. He said "admit you are just weird and apologize". I was like "how am I weird and what should I apologize for" and he listed off the stimming I did as a child before developing masking strategies in my late teens, and the lack of social understanding which apparently left him embarrassed. I get the feeling a lot of people are not actually sympathetic to autistic traits. Rather they feel sympathetic to "helplessness", but if you are a "low/no support needs" autistic person, even the medically obvious traits, even with an actual diagnoses, are not satisfying the real need the NT has. And I think this has to do with how they are constantly treating everything as leadership elections for a complicated game of follow the follower, and interpret it as "disobedience" and/or a threat to their desired social hierarchical status.
I don’t find self diagnosing as valid; while i absolutely agree the dismissal of mental health from professionals is a serious problem, people need to understand by self diagnosing prevents the possibility of having other underlying issues like C-PTSD, bipolar, BPD, OCD, ADHD or a combination of some or many of these. We SHOULD actively seek medical professionals who will take us seriously, and hold them accountable for dismissing our medical needs. Autism IS a disorder that causes disability, and we should NOT self diagnose disabilities. We should seek out care and resources from professionals. I’ve been diagnosed with adhd for 20 years, severe depression for 20 years, and I have a great psychiatrist who with the help of my regular therapist was able to diagnose me as autistic in 2018. Please stop self diagnosis, it can be incredibly self harming and I have been in the hospital with other “self diagnosed” autistic people who were actually suffering from severe C-PTSD; C-PTSD requires an entirely different treatment regime.
Autism runs in my mother’s family. I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD since I was in my 20s, as well as major depression, C-PTSD, anxiety, and panic attacks for even longer. I’ve been under the care of psychiatrists and psychologists the entire time. They have ruled out the other things you mentioned. I have been told I should seek a diagnosis, but where I live, a diagnosis is years away. Meanwhile, I have a chronic pain condition that’s been linked to autism. I took the autism quotient test by Dr. Baron-Cohen, one of the worlds foremost authority’s on autism, and scored well within the autism spectrum. When you are autistic, and you lose the things that helped you mask for years, and you finally realize why you never fit in with other people, why you have communication problems, why you frequently misunderstand others and are misunderstood, and you see the list of autism symptoms and it is a text book of your life, I do not think it unreasonable to come to the conclusion you are autistic. Autism wasn’t a thing when I was growing up, certainly not for girls. That is why women in their 50s are coming forward and being diagnosed now. Waiting because people like you don’t think it advisable to self diagnose, is complete BS. Understanding yourself, and realizing the hell you’ve been through wasn’t your fault is priceless beyond measure and I shouldn’t have had to wait fifty years to find out.
I definitely agree with your point that misdiagnosis can happen but at the same time, not everyone is privileged enough to get a diagnosis. In some countries (like mine) even mental health disorders are stigmatized, and doctors usually are not well educated about neurodivergence. Those people still suffer or get called 'Lazy' or 'weird'. Atleast knowing that there is a chance that you are not weird can be extremely beneficial
It used to bother me when people self diagnosed, but now i couldnt be bothered. I know how hard it is because i am one actually diagnosed and know alien you feel almost every day.
I have never been diagnosed with autism, but I also have never been diagnosed as neurotypical so.... How do they know they are normal if they haven't got a diagnosis? I used to think I was neurotypical to be cool and special, so it's far more likely to be faking neurotypicality to be special.
I am a bit concerned about people diagnosing themselves based off short videos, because I saw a video where an autistic woman was saying you need repetitive behaviors and social difficulties to have autism, and so many people in the comments were raging about this. 🤦
It's definitely becoming a problem, I think there's a huge gap in understanding what is normal vs what is considered neurodivergent vs what is considered mental health disorder.
Just know that a lot of autistic folks are somewhat in denial about the disabling nature of their autistic brain and are somewhat sensitive regarding that topic. But yeah, autism is a disability, wether you feel disabled or not. Masking exists and most of us late diagnosed autistics have lived our lives thinking that we are "normal" and having a "normal" life experience. 🙈
I understand the first guy's critique perfectly. it is trendy to "adopt" a disorder now and that gets on my nerves. This trivializes something I genuinely struggle with.
@@LittleBarracuda Masking is a good word for function and conversation, but all of these things are relative. Besides.... you dont need to mask. You can just be weird and embrace it XD (There are people who arent autistic and are weird and some of them do something like fine) That having been said, since you dont need to mask... AND since autism can be leveraged. IF its leveraged, and the net is positive, especially if your able to leverage that again to shore up any otherwise chronic issues(for instance use autistic focus to make something to make money, use the money gained through this creative endeavor to free up enough time to focus on spending time dealing with and correcting any issues to the degree that no issues exist any more severely than they might for 'normal' people) ....and also, again, its all relative and comparative. How similar or different is that from 'normal' people? Calling it a disability CAN be accurate, but saying it always is just isnt correct. Thats like saying being short is a disability. It can be a drawback, but theres even things you can use it for(less than for autism, but it applies in that its an immutable that has negatives but isnt a disability in any legitimate or classical sense) Its a condition, to be sure. But not necessarily a disability
Even if someone doesnt need extra support, just being able to be honest and call things what they are and have their fundamental reality acknowledged rather than attacked and invalidated(Something autistic people already face from NT all the time their whole lives already) is huge! Just because you mask good(Something many have been forced to learn to do and learned to do as a trauma habit) doesnt mean your experience or thoughts or beliefs(even if they arent exactly correct!) arent valid! Lets say you honestly relate to certain things about autistic people but arent technically or actually. That doesnt make you invalid. Again, alot of people arent even looking for some sort of money or support from government or healthcare or money or anything else. Alot of people are JUST trying to understand themselves and find and create a place for this world in their lives, something talking accurately about without worrying about getting your head bit off for not meeting everybody elses subjective judgement of you can really not only help.... but be ESSENTIAL in and for and to... And ffs, any autistic person should know this... Theres a group of autistic people who gatekeep(and nts, although theyre a separate group, although although they behave similarly in this way) who do A LOT of harm, and if Im being honest, I think they are already aware of that(although I think some of the autistic people do think that higher functioning autistic people arent autistic... but those high functioning autistic people are NEVER hurting the more severely autistic, so their hostility is completely unjustified and shouldnt be coddled! Theyre HURTING PEOPLE! SERIOUSLY! TO PRIORITIZE THEIR COMFORT/FEELINGS!....)
Where is this privilege? From what I can tell my life has been a lot harder than my neurotypical peers I just didn’t understand why until I found out I was autistic. What privilege have I had or am I now getting? The privilege of having my whole life finally make sense?? To finally understand what was “wrong with me” my whole life? Am I missing something again? Maybe I’ll understand this “privilege” in a few years
Gotta say there's plenty of people around that are seriously *desperate* to want to stand out and will grab any opportunity to do so even if it includes medical disorders, I also see this jazz a lot in the LGBT community. I got to give it to the guy in the TikTok video, the people that fake it, are real, and... problematic. What I usually look for to seperate the people that just want attention and the people with real problems is how much they flaunt it. Autistic people usually don't go around telling everyone they're autistic. Like said in the video, it usually brings in a lot of problems. People that are officially diagnosed had to go through pretty rigourous testing to determine it. Furthermore people that connect these kind of mental disorders to race or political inclination. It has nothing whatsoever to do with that.
I think that guy in the first half was projecting, I mean, sure, people want to matter to stand out. That's true, but it's not an all consuming thought that they would try and fake a dissorder- and those who do fake dissorders usually have something else going on causing that behavior
Thomas, I really think you should reach out to the these two and atleast send them this video. They cannot argue with your's and Meg's experience and diagnosis's and it would be very enlightening to them I think and maybe they would end up re-educating their audiences which would be helpful for everyone. 💚
Some thoughts from a social scientist: I don't think it's a coincidence that the push back on social media is co-occurring as autism awareness in the same space is improving; I would very much argue the push back is a direct reaction of the spreading of that awareness as an attempt to push autistic people back into the closet with the very much intended purpose to maintain status quo. Autistic people do not have, according to this worldview, the right to public space because it threatens the idea of normativity and the hierarchy it creates i.e. that of allistics who are in power and define the norm, and the autistics, who represent the minority, which is so vital to people who are center- and right wing leaning. Because they unconsciously understand that they directly benefit from being a majority, there is a fear that the disruption of hierarchy will also threaten the social benefits they unconsciously understand that they are privy to. On an individual level, they obviously range from social treatment and inclusion, but at a societal level, it is also very much institutional. At a psychoanalytical level, I genuinely think a lot of the push back actually stems from guilt and entitlement, because it is notable how the first reaction is always to act indignant as if they're being personally criticized. Even though they talk about the other, in this case autistics and neurodivergent people by proxy, there is a clear failure to consider their own position on the topic they're reacting to i.e. the social benefits they earn by being read as allistic/neurotypical. The power hierarchy between allistics and autistics is preserved when the blame is redirected back at the autistic for making the allistic feel uncomfortable of being faced with their own privilege; in whiteness studies (a subsection of race studies) there's the phrase "white fragility" to explain how white people tend to react defensively when it's pointed out they may participate in racist behavior. To react defensively and take it as a personal criticism is also a way to shift the focus of structural injustice away from social structures to an individual level; it becomes a matter of individual morality rather than the recognition that we all exist in a social structure that categorizes people into a hierarchy and assigns them different levels of rights based on their placement within that hierarchy. In fiction we often see how structural injustice is suddenly absolved just because the bad person in the story who created or maintained that structure disappears, but the truth is closer to that every individual in a society is to varying degrees complicit in the maintenance of the structure, whether intentional or not. So to continue on that, the reason the person in the clip keeps talking about the need to be special is because he's very deeply ingrained in the belief of neoliberal meritocracy; like he says himself, not everyone can be special, but through a neoliberal mindset, the only way to survive and gain some kind of advantage in this world is to be special in the way he describes i.e. be a very talented person. His idea of such a person fits this neoliberal meritocratic ideal such as Steve Jobs, who through talent and determination accomplished something great. He thinks that people claiming the neurodivergent label are "cheating" this systemic structure by acquiring the same rights to treatment i.e. capitalist benefits such as a high income and social reference and thereby also gaining power/influence by climbing upwards in the hierarchy, by simply being neurodivergent rather than to contribute to the neoliberal capitalist society. To put it differently, he thinks that people claiming the neurodivergent label think they can act like welfare queens, which is a conclusion he thinks is justified since neurodivergent people often do get special treatment such as welfare if they apply for disability. The shorter version of this assumption is that he's saying that autistics and neurodirgents as a whole, are lazy.
So @Thomas Henley and I Am Autistic, Now What?, I think understanding the politics behind these statements is actually very important when trying to deconstruct them and demonstrate how they're false/erroneous. I understand you guys may not have that sort of background in politics/the social sciences, but I think for the sake of broadening the discourse and to spread further knowledge/awareness, it's not sufficient to say "he's just ignorant". While it's true that he is, he is also voicing a real concern based on how he thinks the world operates. The falsehood isn't necessarily that he's wrong about autism or neurodivergence, as much as it is that he assumes that minority identity labels whether it's being black, trans or what have you, are attempts to bypass the system. And he's also correct to assume that the neoliberal meritocracy that he explains it here, though very poorly so since he's also seemingly not a very politically versed person, is real, because it is precisely this system that punishes autistics and neurodirgents for being such. However, compared to you/us, he thinks this punishment is justified, because according to the system, if you can't demonstrate how you're a special and talented person able to pull yourself by your own bootstraps, then you deserve to be where you are. According to this mindset, autistics and neurodivergents haven't earned more rights simply because they're autistic/ND, so they also have no right to claim them. The proper critique to this logic is to point out that it's flawed to assume that we live in a true meritocracy. I would even make it personal here and point out that he's a black person so he should fully understand how societal structures treats people unfairly based on personal qualities you have no control over, but chances are he's so deeply ingrained in the belief that he lives in a true meritocracy that he probably doesn't recognize his own hypocrisy and internalized racism. Furthermore, it's important to also recognize that ideology is just that, an ideology i.e. it is imagined rather than an object which exists in physical space. Ideology can only exist as long as we imagine it to exist and we act as if it does. If he were to believe differently about society i.e. he would realize it is not a true meritocracy, he would also recognize the erroneous assumptions he makes about autistics/NDs trying to cheat the system, because suddenly this conclusion makes no sense.
Excellent comments! Thank you. I’ve thought about this a lot and have came to similar thoughts and conclusions on it, but you detailed it here very well.
I’ve been told this by my stepmom. I was also told by others that I wasn’t blind and that I was just looking for attention. Newsflash, I AM blind. And I AM autistic. Yes, you may not fully understand how blind and autistic people do certain things, which is OK. But this is a toxic thing to say. Luckely, I haven’t had anybody tell me that I don’t have complex PTSD, and that I was just seeking attention, but I’m sure it could happen one day. At the end of the day, I know myself better than some dumb useless haters making stupid useless comments.
I know from experience how bad it is when someone tries to “prove” you don’t have autism, so I can only imagine how infuriating it is to be BLIND and have someone say you aren’t really blind. I didn’t think that level of ignorance was even possible.
@@itsgood7036 oh, trust me. It’s there. I haven’t had anyone tell me that I don’t have complex PTSD yet. But I’m sure it’s bound to happen one day or another.
@@thetickedoffpianoplayer4193 I haven’t had anyone tell me that I was faking having complex PTSD for attention. It hasn’t happened yet. But I’m sure it will happen someday. But, at the end of the day, I know myself way more than some ignorant people with their ignorant comments.
There are some people who pretend to be autistic for attention. It's disturbing. If you're diagnosed, or seeking diagnosis that's fine. Even if you're just telling people you think you are, that's ok. But when you're an influencer, undiagnosed, telling people you're autistic, that's a problem.
People faking things online is not exclusive to autism, and I think most people agree (and it was mentioned in the video) that faking something for attention is a problem. Speaking out about people 'faking' is going to make a fake person stop and only makes life harder for autistic people to be taken seriously. For a large part of my life (and it's still rather prevalent now), the media was constantly reinforcing the idea that ADHD is a fake illness for people who want to sedate their rowdy kids. It's used to dismiss people who are struggling, whether intentionally or not, in the exact same way that mental health stigma has been weaponized against people for centuries.
I think it's ridiculous that "autism" means "selfism", which means the self doesn't want to do much with other stuff (aka "otherism"(?)), but despite that they say the "selfism" people are seeking attention. Why the h€ll "selfism" people would want attention? Are most autistic people want the spotlight on them? Every autistic people is different, but I'm confident that it is safe to say that most autistic people do not want attention. I'm not sure how those (mostly) "otherism" minds are going to be able to understand "selfism" people if they don't even see this, which is obvious for most "selfism" minds.
The title made me hesitate clicking the video, because I was not in the mood to be bullied. :< Didn't know it was a reaction to Megans video. Glad it was, because I really enjoy her videos. :>
Bullies could always tell that I was Autistic but doctors can't. I borrowed that one but it makes sense to me. I was called weird, strange, conceited, an "A"hole. I'm not doing well because I'm on disability. If I had a diagnosis and support I could probably work. I would love to work again. I have a show on RUclips along with a few of my friends and I never mention Autism on my show. I'm also fifty-nine so there is a lot of masking that I'm not even aware of. I was beaten up every place I lived until I was thirteen. At Thirteen we moved to a city where people were much more accepting and compassionate. My cousin is Autistic and he said he thinks that I am too. I need to tell him that I've finally given in. I was diagnosed with Bipolar by several different doctors and each time it took only minutes. I don't think they actually spent enough effort to look beyond that and find that I'm also Autistic or not Bipolar at and only Autism.
@@Catlily5 They are too far behind in understanding anything to do with the brain. Looking at children first is a plan I can respect but they're missing too many of them as well.
Autistic people are never going to have their minds changed by someone on Tiktok talking for one minute about how they feel about stuff. That's not really how we work. 🙃
Lol. Feel "special" or be able to have conversations and interactions with people and not be mortally exhausted. Yeah. What an awesome tradeoff. I'll feel "special" instead of living like this.
I don't understand the colour thing nor do I understand the privilege. No body wants to labelled as dis-abled, nor want to be disabled. Being a social misfit is o a privilege neither is being miss diagnosed with a personality disorder that isn't and discovering the "Neuodivergent" is the reason for being the weird girl. Why would that be a fun choice. ....... Great video thanks
I think what could be “good” about that is the fact that you finally understand why you’re so weird and different and that you’re are not deranged or off the hook, you’re just neurodivergent. That’s why some people would want to be labeled as “disabled”.
Sadly, there are people who want to be labeled as disabled for attention. They're called narcissists. I've known some people who did that, but not with autism.
@@thetickedoffpianoplayer4193 Don't think its appropriate to throw around the term narcissist like that... thats just grossly oversimplifying a complex issue :/
I will say this, I am a self-diagnosed autistic person who diagnosed myself in the 80's, long story, can say that there is an issue right now of many people claiming "disorders," autism is NOT a disorder, to feel special. That part is true and many different communities need to weed them out or they will be the ones to damage the image of your community because they are not actually in the community.
To be Frank, there are an awful lot of nasty cluster Bs floating around in the facebook pages, just aching to thrash your confidence and mess you up, often spouting niceties and all the popular 'words and phrases' but being a complete abuser and control freak.
I quite like the thought that autistic and allistic people are like yin and yang. We've misunderstood each other for years. We need to accept our differences.
He didn't actually say you are the people who have to feel oppressed this is the problem when you're speaking to people who are on the autism spectrum they need to be reminded what you are actually mean when you say what you're saying. He's not mischaracterizing people who are genuinely diagnosed with autism he is talking about those people who are basically liberal based people who have internalized shame that has been thrust upon them by the people around them. So they look for relief inside those marginalized peoples groupings which makes those people hurtful. Their fake needs arent based in reality. They did it with other groups and etc. Please realize their not getting away with it doesnt mean its you who are actually autistic that arent being beleived. Anyone whos not able to look at each others sides wont be able to have the connections enough to talk together.
These 2 guys sound as if they could be in the "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" camp, like homophobes who are afraid they might be gay or trans or whatever they are shouting about. Don't go diagnosing adults as autistic because I don't want to be caught! ...Or they are just the bullies who have always been bullies.
Is there a reason that other autistic peoples verbal stimming makes my brain tingle? 😅 Maybe theres another dimension of communcation we arent aware of, like whale songs.
I recently learned that the phrase "It's giving..." is a descripter that Gen. Z'ers adapted, atleast according to Caroline Winkler's recent video about the generation, she is super funny and has a great RUclips channel.
I don't need a doctor to diagnose a headache or insomnia. In other words, you don't need a doctor to diagnose everything about you. When I was a kid, little was known about autism, and it was mostly diagnosed in boys. However, I very clearly and obviously showed the signs of having it, it's just that those signs were labeled as something else. Honestly, if you don't have high support needs, then what's the harm with claiming to be autistic? You're not likely taking up any "resources."
8:46 Call me shallow, but I make it a rule to never take advice from anyone who styles their head to look like a pineapple. It's that whole thin slice thing again I guess. I can't stand sliced pineapple. It's one of my sensory issues. The texture disgusts me. It's all sour and bitter and gushy. Sticks in my craw. Makes me puke.
I've made an observation. People who are actually autistic (i am) react to these videos about people faking autism(which there are some who do), as if they are being personally attacked and being the ones pointed out. And the people who are faking it, are the ones who assume that its someone else is being spoken about. Yes i have been told that I'm not autistic and that I'm faking. But I know that im not faking it and I know that i am autistic (my psychiatrist diagnosed me). I have to constantly remind myself that I'm not one of the people that these folks are talking about. I think that us autistic folks are constantly being told we aren't autistic, and so we become defensive and aggressive, and sometimes we don't want to see that there are folks who do fake it. I'm not saying going around and saying that this person or that person is faking is the right thing to do. Its not. I'm just pointing out an observation that I've made, and trying to be as objective as I can.
It’s so cruel. To be rejected your whole life because you’re different, and to finally come into the autism community and be rejected, is such a crushing and cruel reality.
Tbh I think that the whole "You just want to be special" and "You just want to be autistic for attention" are big projections. You can tell, because they assume that any attention you receive will be positive, when much of the time being autistic will bring you negative attention from people. I think a lot of people who say these things either deeply desire attention themselves, or don't feel special at all and will happily tear others down with their low self-esteem.
I totally thought this as well.
Late diagnosed adults aren't a fad. More plausibly, things are just getting that dire out there that masking is ceasing to be manageable in the workplace, and there's a lot of overdue psychological catch-up that results in severe burnout hitting the population of the planet in 202X.
100% this. I know people in their 30s who just got diagnosed due to seeking help for their mental health. Autistic burnout is terrible but thankfully there's more information about autism than a few decades ago which is precisely why so many people are getting diagnosed nowadays! This is great, people shouldn't be struggling so much or forcing themselves into doing things that are seen as 'part of life' if it's costing their mental health because society isn't 'made' for people like them while dismissing their struggles because they think they are making excuses or being too dramatic. Late-diagnosed people are also seen as 'quirky' and 'weird', yet when they get a diagnosis many people don't believe them because although they think they are 'weird' they also think they are too 'normal' to have autism.
Diagnoses last week at 46
These same people would've probably been insisting left-handedness is a fad when it stopped being a stigmatized thing/mandatory to teach everyone into right-handedness.
I got diagnosed autistic last year at age 47. When we were children they only diagnosed severe cases of autism. So we were missed.
Yeah, I'm not functioning every Sunday. The accumulation of sensory pressure, social nuance, and phobias I experience add up until I'm completely comotose at the end of the day. I want to help kids like me when I'm stable enough.
I think we've lost allot of great people by excluding them from society.
This is so meta. A reaction to a reaction to a reaction. I hope someone reacts to this video.
The original video creater has to make a reaction to the reaction so it creates an infinite loop of video reactions
😂Everyone watching now is reacting. I’ll react, but too inept at making a video. This really is a reaction to a reaction to a reaction.😂
-I'd love to see the original creators who posted this react or at list engage with us. A lot of people these days don't want to listen to the other side, unfortunately. And they say we're the ones that don't have empathy.
This comment is a reaction to your reaction
METAMETAMETAMETAMETAMETAMETAMETAMEGSMETMSTEMATEMATE
this is one of the reasons I was so afraid of telling my doctor I wanted to pursue a diagnosis, hell I was even scared of reading about autism and TDAH. I had a whole disclaimer of "I swear I'm not doing this for attention, I know people think this is a fad, I know how this looks" and my doctor was perplexed I was even saying all that. Funny, I went through the same thing when I was coming out as Bi, I needed to reassure myself all the time I was not doint it for attention subconsciously which is, you know, such an insane thing to be worried about
this whole "you are just saying that because you want to feel special" is really triggering for me...I have heard that quite alot when I was a teen/child, before I knew about autism etc. usually when I asked for needing help with some things or for consideration of a sensory sensitivity of mine and I was shot down with words like those...about "no one gets special treatment" and "do you think you are better than us, asking for special treatment?" etc.
I never understood this, what's this obsession with putting people down who are or act differently? and gaslighting them on top of it? as if someone else getting an accommodation is somehow threatening them...or maybe they needed some themselves and are just bitter and angry about not getting any?
The amount of times I've heard "no one gets special treatment" to then immediately see someone get "special treatment" aka receiving the accommodations that I asked for... is ridiculous. I eventually felt so horrible for even asking that I simply stopped and struggled in silence and refused to tell anyone that I needed help even when they asked me which usually lead to the "so you think you're better than us?" because I didn't openly ask for help anymore. It's just all around confusing. I didn't want to feel "special" and I definitely didn't feel better than others especially since I had been targeted/bullied as being weird, different, etc.
Same
An adult diagnosed with autism is not going to get that much support anyways. So you won't be taking much of anything away from anyone.
This is one of the many reasons why I'm not on TikTok.
I watched more than 1000 autism videos and read more than 6 books on autism before I thought I had autism and went to get diagnosed.
I am 50, and only figured out I am autistic about 5 years ago, and only really started exploring myself and my life through that lens in the past 2. and to hear this guy make weird nonsensical proclamations is ridiculous. The way I explain it to people when The subject of me not having an "official" diagnosis, is 1. I don't have the money to do so as my autism has made employment near impossible for me (got on disability this year, so that may change), and 2. if every time I looked at a snake I scream and defecate myself in terror, do I really need an official diagnosis to tell me I have a phobia of snakes? Also, imagine if I made a video where I said, "there's a test to see if you're black, don't take it, your not. people claim they are black because they want to feel special..." etc... Also, there are a LOT of right leaning autistic folks out there.
I don't want to be special.
I just want justification and understanding to how I've been experiencing life for my entire life. I want it to make sense and Autism (alongside ADHD) are the only things I've ever found that even begin to make my life make any sort of sense.
The only thing ever keeping me from discovering this about myself has been my own ignorance.
Usually when someone claims you're trying to be special with something specific they're very tone deaf ableist and possibly jealous like somehow you're going to get something they didn't. If only they truly knew how painful the bullying etc. can be after 51 yrs of living with it and not being helped with the worst challenges. It sucks dude!
About autistic people being more rejected socially than neurotypicals, I think it's because autistic people usually don't make facial expressions so people feel uncomfortable/confused as to how to talk to them or behave.
The whole "white priviledge" argument is especially such a strange detached thing to someone who doesn't live in the US. To me it just comes off as "my world view is incredibly narrow and globally shallow, and now I'm trying to fit something I don't properly understand through that filter."
I think it’s because this explosion of people coming out are mostly from the US (I haven’t looked too closely so I might be wrong on this part) so they’re trying to figure out why it’s like an epidemic in the US in particular.
As someone who is in intersectional debate circles, that guy would be laughed at. He just screams pretension. "White people just want to feel oppressed, right my friends of color, these people are the REAL racists?" If he educated himself he would easily realize the reason why these spaces are so white is because the diagnostic criteria have always been centered around how white men presented. POC are often overlooked and late diagnosed because their "strange behavior" is often dismissed due to racial prejudice and because POC don't see any representation of Nerodivergent POC in their culture or media. Also, they often come from economically disadvantaged communities, meaning that a large number of them can not have access to or the means to reach an official diagnosis, and unmasking can at times be dangerous to POC in America.
That's the problem with the internet. No editorial responsibility, which means any opportunistic idiot looking for clicks, can publish anything.
We are being late diagnosed because when we were kids, autism wasn’t a thing, no one knew what it was 50 years ago. Autistic people didn’t just start appearing out of nowhere! What do you think happens to those undiagnosed people of older generations? Do you think autism goes away? I don’t understand why this is so hard for people, especially “professionals”, to understand!
I started to understand myself more after my son was diagnosed. I don't need an official diagnosis myself, but certain things just started to make more sense once I learned more about my son. It gave me a framework to understand things that had been a part of me forever.
Same. About the same time I realized I also have Aphantasia. So many aspects of my life make so much sense now.
But you're not going on tik tok as an influencer telling people you're autistic without being diagnosed.
@@ruthhorowitz7625maybe not, but those autistic influencers are the reason many people, including myself, first realized our own autism. Most people who aren’t autistic aren’t going to genuinely believe they are.
@@poot-poot I never found them until after I was diagnosed.
It was really hard for me to listen to those two! 😫
"You're not autistic just seeking attention!" lol nah, believe me when I say, attention is literally the last thing I want 🤣Also Meg from I'm autistic, now what = awesome!
I get it. There is a lot of identity seeking out there. Anomy and atomization. I do have a lot of ambivalence about the whole intersectionality thing. I do sometimes wonder if we are being buried behind of a lot of identity dysphoric wolf crying. But who can judge who?
I got in a dispute with my brother a few years ago about this which might shed some insight. I am in my 30's, and was presenting autistic traits from an early age, including but not limited too stereotypical stimming and hyperlexia. I was placed in the T.A.G program at the school, recognized as a bit odd, and had no close friends, and eventually diagnosed with ASD. I was always lost in my own world, but (according to my parents) my brother was always competitive with me, outdoing me over and over again (to which I paid no attention). He actually got in a fight with me about 10 years ago where he boldly claimed I was not "really" autistic. So I asked him what he meant and what he expected of me. He said "admit you are just weird and apologize". I was like "how am I weird and what should I apologize for" and he listed off the stimming I did as a child before developing masking strategies in my late teens, and the lack of social understanding which apparently left him embarrassed.
I get the feeling a lot of people are not actually sympathetic to autistic traits. Rather they feel sympathetic to "helplessness", but if you are a "low/no support needs" autistic person, even the medically obvious traits, even with an actual diagnoses, are not satisfying the real need the NT has. And I think this has to do with how they are constantly treating everything as leadership elections for a complicated game of follow the follower, and interpret it as "disobedience" and/or a threat to their desired social hierarchical status.
I don’t find self diagnosing as valid; while i absolutely agree the dismissal of mental health from professionals is a serious problem, people need to understand by self diagnosing prevents the possibility of having other underlying issues like C-PTSD, bipolar, BPD, OCD, ADHD or a combination of some or many of these.
We SHOULD actively seek medical professionals who will take us seriously, and hold them accountable for dismissing our medical needs. Autism IS a disorder that causes disability, and we should NOT self diagnose disabilities. We should seek out care and resources from professionals.
I’ve been diagnosed with adhd for 20 years, severe depression for 20 years, and I have a great psychiatrist who with the help of my regular therapist was able to diagnose me as autistic in 2018.
Please stop self diagnosis, it can be incredibly self harming and I have been in the hospital with other “self diagnosed” autistic people who were actually suffering from severe C-PTSD; C-PTSD requires an entirely different treatment regime.
how did you find out they weren't actually autistic?
Autism runs in my mother’s family. I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD since I was in my 20s, as well as major depression, C-PTSD, anxiety, and panic attacks for even longer. I’ve been under the care of psychiatrists and psychologists the entire time. They have ruled out the other things you mentioned. I have been told I should seek a diagnosis, but where I live, a diagnosis is years away. Meanwhile, I have a chronic pain condition that’s been linked to autism. I took the autism quotient test by Dr. Baron-Cohen, one of the worlds foremost authority’s on autism, and scored well within the autism spectrum. When you are autistic, and you lose the things that helped you mask for years, and you finally realize why you never fit in with other people, why you have communication problems, why you frequently misunderstand others and are misunderstood, and you see the list of autism symptoms and it is a text book of your life, I do not think it unreasonable to come to the conclusion you are autistic.
Autism wasn’t a thing when I was growing up, certainly not for girls. That is why women in their 50s are coming forward and being diagnosed now. Waiting because people like you don’t think it advisable to self diagnose, is complete BS. Understanding yourself, and realizing the hell you’ve been through wasn’t your fault is priceless beyond measure and I shouldn’t have had to wait fifty years to find out.
I definitely agree with your point that misdiagnosis can happen but at the same time, not everyone is privileged enough to get a diagnosis. In some countries (like mine) even mental health disorders are stigmatized, and doctors usually are not well educated about neurodivergence. Those people still suffer or get called 'Lazy' or 'weird'. Atleast knowing that there is a chance that you are not weird can be extremely beneficial
It used to bother me when people self diagnosed, but now i couldnt be bothered. I know how hard it is because i am one actually diagnosed and know alien you feel almost every day.
When I mention my AuDHD to people who know me, they go…”oh! Yeah! Of course” 😂
I have never been diagnosed with autism, but I also have never been diagnosed as neurotypical so....
How do they know they are normal if they haven't got a diagnosis? I used to think I was neurotypical to be cool and special, so it's far more likely to be faking neurotypicality to be special.
I am a bit concerned about people diagnosing themselves based off short videos, because I saw a video where an autistic woman was saying you need repetitive behaviors and social difficulties to have autism, and so many people in the comments were raging about this. 🤦
It's definitely becoming a problem, I think there's a huge gap in understanding what is normal vs what is considered neurodivergent vs what is considered mental health disorder.
Just know that a lot of autistic folks are somewhat in denial about the disabling nature of their autistic brain and are somewhat sensitive regarding that topic. But yeah, autism is a disability, wether you feel disabled or not. Masking exists and most of us late diagnosed autistics have lived our lives thinking that we are "normal" and having a "normal" life experience. 🙈
I understand the first guy's critique perfectly. it is trendy to "adopt" a disorder now and that gets on my nerves. This trivializes something I genuinely struggle with.
I am not on Tiktok. On RUclips most self diagnosed people are 30+ and have watched lots and lots of videos before self diagnosing.
@@LittleBarracuda Masking is a good word for function and conversation, but all of these things are relative. Besides.... you dont need to mask.
You can just be weird and embrace it XD (There are people who arent autistic and are weird and some of them do something like fine)
That having been said, since you dont need to mask... AND since autism can be leveraged. IF its leveraged, and the net is positive, especially if your able to leverage that again to shore up any otherwise chronic issues(for instance use autistic focus to make something to make money, use the money gained through this creative endeavor to free up enough time to focus on spending time dealing with and correcting any issues to the degree that no issues exist any more severely than they might for 'normal' people)
....and also, again, its all relative and comparative. How similar or different is that from 'normal' people?
Calling it a disability CAN be accurate, but saying it always is just isnt correct.
Thats like saying being short is a disability.
It can be a drawback, but theres even things you can use it for(less than for autism, but it applies in that its an immutable that has negatives but isnt a disability in any legitimate or classical sense)
Its a condition, to be sure. But not necessarily a disability
Even if someone doesnt need extra support, just being able to be honest and call things what they are and have their fundamental reality acknowledged rather than attacked and invalidated(Something autistic people already face from NT all the time their whole lives already) is huge!
Just because you mask good(Something many have been forced to learn to do and learned to do as a trauma habit) doesnt mean your experience or thoughts or beliefs(even if they arent exactly correct!) arent valid!
Lets say you honestly relate to certain things about autistic people but arent technically or actually. That doesnt make you invalid.
Again, alot of people arent even looking for some sort of money or support from government or healthcare or money or anything else. Alot of people are JUST trying to understand themselves and find and create a place for this world in their lives, something talking accurately about without worrying about getting your head bit off for not meeting everybody elses subjective judgement of you can really not only help.... but be ESSENTIAL in and for and to...
And ffs, any autistic person should know this...
Theres a group of autistic people who gatekeep(and nts, although theyre a separate group, although although they behave similarly in this way) who do A LOT of harm, and if Im being honest, I think they are already aware of that(although I think some of the autistic people do think that higher functioning autistic people arent autistic... but those high functioning autistic people are NEVER hurting the more severely autistic, so their hostility is completely unjustified and shouldnt be coddled! Theyre HURTING PEOPLE! SERIOUSLY! TO PRIORITIZE THEIR COMFORT/FEELINGS!....)
Where is this privilege? From what I can tell my life has been a lot harder than my neurotypical peers I just didn’t understand why until I found out I was autistic. What privilege have I had or am I now getting? The privilege of having my whole life finally make sense?? To finally understand what was “wrong with me” my whole life? Am I missing something again? Maybe I’ll understand this “privilege” in a few years
I have never taken TikTok seriously because the language used and created is confusing and frustrating. This adds another reason why.
Well I wouldn't want to be NT, that much I can agree with.
Gotta say there's plenty of people around that are seriously *desperate* to want to stand out and will grab any opportunity to do so even if it includes medical disorders, I also see this jazz a lot in the LGBT community. I got to give it to the guy in the TikTok video, the people that fake it, are real, and... problematic.
What I usually look for to seperate the people that just want attention and the people with real problems is how much they flaunt it. Autistic people usually don't go around telling everyone they're autistic. Like said in the video, it usually brings in a lot of problems. People that are officially diagnosed had to go through pretty rigourous testing to determine it.
Furthermore people that connect these kind of mental disorders to race or political inclination. It has nothing whatsoever to do with that.
I’m Gen-X, so how can he explain that?
Lord of the fly's.
Thomas Hanleys friends told me said Im seeking attention and $150 a month from the us government
I think that guy in the first half was projecting, I mean, sure, people want to matter to stand out. That's true, but it's not an all consuming thought that they would try and fake a dissorder- and those who do fake dissorders usually have something else going on causing that behavior
But stats prove that the majority of people who think they're autistic usually are or have some kind of neurodivergence
I have ASD and I see what they're talking about perfectly
Finally armed myself with
decent eye irritant people
might leave me alone now.
Peanut jar full.
Thomas, I really think you should reach out to the these two and atleast send them this video. They cannot argue with your's and Meg's experience and diagnosis's and it would be very enlightening to them I think and maybe they would end up re-educating their audiences which would be helpful for everyone. 💚
I love that idea 💡 It's great!
@@raven4090 thanks!
I agree and second, I mean, third that! 👍😸
A really good idea, but most likely unrealistic.
If you could talk sense to idiots, there wouldn't be any idiots.
Some thoughts from a social scientist:
I don't think it's a coincidence that the push back on social media is co-occurring as autism awareness in the same space is improving; I would very much argue the push back is a direct reaction of the spreading of that awareness as an attempt to push autistic people back into the closet with the very much intended purpose to maintain status quo. Autistic people do not have, according to this worldview, the right to public space because it threatens the idea of normativity and the hierarchy it creates i.e. that of allistics who are in power and define the norm, and the autistics, who represent the minority, which is so vital to people who are center- and right wing leaning. Because they unconsciously understand that they directly benefit from being a majority, there is a fear that the disruption of hierarchy will also threaten the social benefits they unconsciously understand that they are privy to. On an individual level, they obviously range from social treatment and inclusion, but at a societal level, it is also very much institutional.
At a psychoanalytical level, I genuinely think a lot of the push back actually stems from guilt and entitlement, because it is notable how the first reaction is always to act indignant as if they're being personally criticized. Even though they talk about the other, in this case autistics and neurodivergent people by proxy, there is a clear failure to consider their own position on the topic they're reacting to i.e. the social benefits they earn by being read as allistic/neurotypical. The power hierarchy between allistics and autistics is preserved when the blame is redirected back at the autistic for making the allistic feel uncomfortable of being faced with their own privilege; in whiteness studies (a subsection of race studies) there's the phrase "white fragility" to explain how white people tend to react defensively when it's pointed out they may participate in racist behavior.
To react defensively and take it as a personal criticism is also a way to shift the focus of structural injustice away from social structures to an individual level; it becomes a matter of individual morality rather than the recognition that we all exist in a social structure that categorizes people into a hierarchy and assigns them different levels of rights based on their placement within that hierarchy. In fiction we often see how structural injustice is suddenly absolved just because the bad person in the story who created or maintained that structure disappears, but the truth is closer to that every individual in a society is to varying degrees complicit in the maintenance of the structure, whether intentional or not.
So to continue on that, the reason the person in the clip keeps talking about the need to be special is because he's very deeply ingrained in the belief of neoliberal meritocracy; like he says himself, not everyone can be special, but through a neoliberal mindset, the only way to survive and gain some kind of advantage in this world is to be special in the way he describes i.e. be a very talented person. His idea of such a person fits this neoliberal meritocratic ideal such as Steve Jobs, who through talent and determination accomplished something great. He thinks that people claiming the neurodivergent label are "cheating" this systemic structure by acquiring the same rights to treatment i.e. capitalist benefits such as a high income and social reference and thereby also gaining power/influence by climbing upwards in the hierarchy, by simply being neurodivergent rather than to contribute to the neoliberal capitalist society. To put it differently, he thinks that people claiming the neurodivergent label think they can act like welfare queens, which is a conclusion he thinks is justified since neurodivergent people often do get special treatment such as welfare if they apply for disability. The shorter version of this assumption is that he's saying that autistics and neurodirgents as a whole, are lazy.
So @Thomas Henley and I Am Autistic, Now What?, I think understanding the politics behind these statements is actually very important when trying to deconstruct them and demonstrate how they're false/erroneous. I understand you guys may not have that sort of background in politics/the social sciences, but I think for the sake of broadening the discourse and to spread further knowledge/awareness, it's not sufficient to say "he's just ignorant". While it's true that he is, he is also voicing a real concern based on how he thinks the world operates. The falsehood isn't necessarily that he's wrong about autism or neurodivergence, as much as it is that he assumes that minority identity labels whether it's being black, trans or what have you, are attempts to bypass the system. And he's also correct to assume that the neoliberal meritocracy that he explains it here, though very poorly so since he's also seemingly not a very politically versed person, is real, because it is precisely this system that punishes autistics and neurodirgents for being such. However, compared to you/us, he thinks this punishment is justified, because according to the system, if you can't demonstrate how you're a special and talented person able to pull yourself by your own bootstraps, then you deserve to be where you are. According to this mindset, autistics and neurodivergents haven't earned more rights simply because they're autistic/ND, so they also have no right to claim them.
The proper critique to this logic is to point out that it's flawed to assume that we live in a true meritocracy. I would even make it personal here and point out that he's a black person so he should fully understand how societal structures treats people unfairly based on personal qualities you have no control over, but chances are he's so deeply ingrained in the belief that he lives in a true meritocracy that he probably doesn't recognize his own hypocrisy and internalized racism.
Furthermore, it's important to also recognize that ideology is just that, an ideology i.e. it is imagined rather than an object which exists in physical space. Ideology can only exist as long as we imagine it to exist and we act as if it does. If he were to believe differently about society i.e. he would realize it is not a true meritocracy, he would also recognize the erroneous assumptions he makes about autistics/NDs trying to cheat the system, because suddenly this conclusion makes no sense.
Excellent comments! Thank you. I’ve thought about this a lot and have came to similar thoughts and conclusions on it, but you detailed it here very well.
I’ve been told this by my stepmom. I was also told by others that I wasn’t blind and that I was just looking for attention. Newsflash, I AM blind. And I AM autistic. Yes, you may not fully understand how blind and autistic people do certain things, which is OK. But this is a toxic thing to say. Luckely, I haven’t had anybody tell me that I don’t have complex PTSD, and that I was just seeking attention, but I’m sure it could happen one day. At the end of the day, I know myself better than some dumb useless haters making stupid useless comments.
Whoa, another blind autistic person here. Man I wish I could chat with you. Were you diagnosed as a kid or did they think you were NT?
I know from experience how bad it is when someone tries to “prove” you don’t have autism, so I can only imagine how infuriating it is to be BLIND and have someone say you aren’t really blind. I didn’t think that level of ignorance was even possible.
@@itsgood7036 oh, trust me. It’s there. I haven’t had anyone tell me that I don’t have complex PTSD yet. But I’m sure it’s bound to happen one day or another.
@@itsgood7036 I did have my sister say I was faking being blind for attention, but she was a teenager so I'll give her a pass.
@@thetickedoffpianoplayer4193 I haven’t had anyone tell me that I was faking having complex PTSD for attention. It hasn’t happened yet. But I’m sure it will happen someday. But, at the end of the day, I know myself way more than some ignorant people with their ignorant comments.
There are some people who pretend to be autistic for attention. It's disturbing. If you're diagnosed, or seeking diagnosis that's fine. Even if you're just telling people you think you are, that's ok. But when you're an influencer, undiagnosed, telling people you're autistic, that's a problem.
Yeah, I think people should be careful with that. Maybe they could just say they're self-diagnosed, but then no one would take them seriously.
People faking things online is not exclusive to autism, and I think most people agree (and it was mentioned in the video) that faking something for attention is a problem. Speaking out about people 'faking' is going to make a fake person stop and only makes life harder for autistic people to be taken seriously. For a large part of my life (and it's still rather prevalent now), the media was constantly reinforcing the idea that ADHD is a fake illness for people who want to sedate their rowdy kids. It's used to dismiss people who are struggling, whether intentionally or not, in the exact same way that mental health stigma has been weaponized against people for centuries.
@@thenobin agree that it isn't just autism. The way this guy calls it out is somewhat problematic. It can be done without hurting us.
@@thenobin I agree. That's why I say innocent until proven guilty when it comes to fake claiming people.
what influencers have you seen that aren't diagnosed?
I think it's ridiculous that "autism" means "selfism", which means the self doesn't want to do much with other stuff (aka "otherism"(?)),
but despite that they say the "selfism" people are seeking attention.
Why the h€ll "selfism" people would want attention?
Are most autistic people want the spotlight on them?
Every autistic people is different,
but I'm confident that it is safe to say that
most autistic people do not want attention.
I'm not sure how those (mostly) "otherism" minds are going to be able to understand "selfism" people
if they don't even see this,
which is obvious for most "selfism" minds.
ooh yay more components of entity constitution thank you
The title made me hesitate clicking the video, because I was not in the mood to be bullied. :<
Didn't know it was a reaction to Megans video. Glad it was, because I really enjoy her videos. :>
Bullies could always tell that I was Autistic but doctors can't. I borrowed that one but it makes sense to me. I was called weird, strange, conceited, an "A"hole. I'm not doing well because I'm on disability. If I had a diagnosis and support I could probably work. I would love to work again. I have a show on RUclips along with a few of my friends and I never mention Autism on my show. I'm also fifty-nine so there is a lot of masking that I'm not even aware of. I was beaten up every place I lived until I was thirteen. At Thirteen we moved to a city where people were much more accepting and compassionate. My cousin is Autistic and he said he thinks that I am too. I need to tell him that I've finally given in. I was diagnosed with Bipolar by several different doctors and each time it took only minutes. I don't think they actually spent enough effort to look beyond that and find that I'm also Autistic or not Bipolar at and only Autism.
A diagnosis can help but we don't get many accommodations as adults. I was diagnosed last year.
@@Catlily5 They are too far behind in understanding anything to do with the brain. Looking at children first is a plan I can respect but they're missing too many of them as well.
@@TheRawChuck Yes, they don't know enough about the brain yet.
This is the first time I've seen this kind of content. I was diagnosed last August. I'm feeling doubts for the first time. How rude of these people.
Autistic people are never going to have their minds changed by someone on Tiktok talking for one minute about how they feel about stuff. That's not really how we work. 🙃
Lol. Feel "special" or be able to have conversations and interactions with people and not be mortally exhausted.
Yeah. What an awesome tradeoff. I'll feel "special" instead of living like this.
I don't understand the colour thing nor do I understand the privilege.
No body wants to labelled as dis-abled, nor want to be disabled.
Being a social misfit is o a privilege neither is being miss diagnosed with a personality disorder that isn't and discovering the "Neuodivergent" is the reason for being the weird girl.
Why would that be a fun choice.
.......
Great video thanks
I think what could be “good” about that is the fact that you finally understand why you’re so weird and different and that you’re are not deranged or off the hook, you’re just neurodivergent. That’s why some people would want to be labeled as “disabled”.
Sadly, there are people who want to be labeled as disabled for attention. They're called narcissists. I've known some people who did that, but not with autism.
@@thetickedoffpianoplayer4193
Interesting reply 🤔 thanks
@@thetickedoffpianoplayer4193 Don't think its appropriate to throw around the term narcissist like that... thats just grossly oversimplifying a complex issue :/
@@LittleBarracuda I probably shouldn't have used that term. I was just saying that there are people who do that because they're trying to run scams.
I will say this, I am a self-diagnosed autistic person who diagnosed myself in the 80's, long story, can say that there is an issue right now of many people claiming "disorders," autism is NOT a disorder, to feel special. That part is true and many different communities need to weed them out or they will be the ones to damage the image of your community because they are not actually in the community.
To be Frank, there are an awful lot of nasty cluster Bs floating around in the facebook pages, just aching to thrash your confidence and mess you up, often spouting niceties and all the popular 'words and phrases' but being a complete abuser and control freak.
Anyway I wish I could get a date.
Also.
Who actually dose diagnose themselves from some video from some App??
Since when dose anyone do that??
I quite like the thought that autistic and allistic people are like yin and yang. We've misunderstood each other for years. We need to accept our differences.
He didn't actually say you are the people who have to feel oppressed this is the problem when you're speaking to people who are on the autism spectrum they need to be reminded what you are actually mean when you say what you're saying. He's not mischaracterizing people who are genuinely diagnosed with autism he is talking about those people who are basically liberal based people who have internalized shame that has been thrust upon them by the people around them. So they look for relief inside those marginalized peoples groupings which makes those people hurtful. Their fake needs arent based in reality. They did it with other groups and etc. Please realize their not getting away with it doesnt mean its you who are actually autistic that arent being beleived. Anyone whos not able to look at each others sides wont be able to have the connections enough to talk together.
These 2 guys sound as if they could be in the "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" camp, like homophobes who are afraid they might be gay or trans or whatever they are shouting about. Don't go diagnosing adults as autistic because I don't want to be caught! ...Or they are just the bullies who have always been bullies.
Is there a reason that other autistic peoples verbal stimming makes my brain tingle? 😅
Maybe theres another dimension of communcation we arent aware of, like whale songs.
I recently learned that the phrase "It's giving..." is a descripter that Gen. Z'ers adapted, atleast according to Caroline Winkler's recent video about the generation, she is super funny and has a great RUclips channel.
I don't need a doctor to diagnose a headache or insomnia. In other words, you don't need a doctor to diagnose everything about you. When I was a kid, little was known about autism, and it was mostly diagnosed in boys. However, I very clearly and obviously showed the signs of having it, it's just that those signs were labeled as something else. Honestly, if you don't have high support needs, then what's the harm with claiming to be autistic? You're not likely taking up any "resources."
19:04 @ned peoples birthdays vary. My parents were both 17 when they started college because they TURNED 18 during the first few months of college.
I prefer more distilled explainers and feel the title should include the words "reaction video."
I loved this!
8:46 Call me shallow, but I make it a rule to never take advice from anyone who styles their head to look like a pineapple.
It's that whole thin slice thing again I guess. I can't stand sliced pineapple. It's one of my sensory issues. The texture disgusts me. It's all sour and bitter and gushy. Sticks in my craw. Makes me puke.
Looking forward to this
I've made an observation. People who are actually autistic (i am) react to these videos about people faking autism(which there are some who do), as if they are being personally attacked and being the ones pointed out. And the people who are faking it, are the ones who assume that its someone else is being spoken about.
Yes i have been told that I'm not autistic and that I'm faking. But I know that im not faking it and I know that i am autistic (my psychiatrist diagnosed me). I have to constantly remind myself that I'm not one of the people that these folks are talking about.
I think that us autistic folks are constantly being told we aren't autistic, and so we become defensive and aggressive, and sometimes we don't want to see that there are folks who do fake it.
I'm not saying going around and saying that this person or that person is faking is the right thing to do. Its not.
I'm just pointing out an observation that I've made, and trying to be as objective as I can.