Honestly, I'm glad you're willing to ask, and while I can't answer the question, I can give some context. It's funny because the test for autism is based off the stereotypes that you have to love trains, never make eye contact, and not have emotions (which isn't even accurate). There's plenty of autistic people unable to get diagnosed because of the stereotypes, and there's not really much the diagnosis can do for you anyway. There's actually plenty of people on the spectrum that have gone to great colleges and have amazing careers, but if a place finds out you're autistic, they no longer want you there. The news uses this to their advantage to say it's the first to get to this spot or that spot, but it's more this person was "found out," and hasn't gotten in as much trouble for it this time. Most mask, which basically means they're forced to act like they are normal, because that's the only way they're allowed to live. If we don't mask, we often have to prove we aren't "broken," and that we're people too, though sometimes they're okay with it. It also doesn't help that every time the "experts," say they're going to fix the test and actually help those that need help, the only thing they do is change a name, or admit that the test is flawed without fixing it. We also tend to be either extremely good or extremely bad at each thing. For example, one could be extremely good at doing math in their head, but be horrid with abstract concepts
YES ^^ I'm pretty sure I'm neurodivergent. But it's like I understand social cues. I'm very good at expressing and controlling emotions, I make eye contact, I don't even like trains, they kind of scare me. I don't fit any stereotype but ever single autistic person I've spoken to has basically just gone 'yeah, you're probably autistic' but I don't fit the stereotypes. And we're not broken, but we're taught that we are, so we change it. And there is a spectrum of autism, and 'high functioning' and 'low functioning' aren't allowed anymore, I don't even remember the terms anymore. And I don't know what it means anyways. Autism exists. Autism is a spectrum. But people don't treat it like that. People say 'oh you can't be autistic, you're making eye contact right now'. Or, I've even been told 'You're not autistic, you're not good at math', which is stupid as fuck, one. And two, why would that matter, right? I wouldn't say autism as a term is obsolete, but it is way too broad, and people use it incorrectly, which makes it even more broad, and it's also an insult now in many circles, um, so it's just not good anymore. It's a term that's important, but it's not used in a specific way which makes it hard to understand what it means most of the time.
There used to be more terms. Aspergers was one but that was named after a n@zi so they changed it. Also the understanding has changed, since many of the early research didnt include women, nb people or minorities. But at it's base, there are 10 categories/subcategories in the DSM5 that are assessed and at least 8 must be met in order to have a diagnoses. (A1-3, B1-4, C, D, E) The categories are umbrellas and the ways they are expressed can vary. For example, difficulty communicating. Some autistic people are nonverbal. Some are nonverbal as kids but become verbal adults. And some are verbal but may struggle to communicate in other ways. Eg: I can speak but I often(really often) forget words when i need them and I struggle with social cues. But even then, i dont miss them as much as i used to. If anything im hyper-aware of everyone's facial expressions because im terrified of making a mistake. On the outside that can look like im socializing just fine but in reality every time i socialize i am actively going over a mental checklist of do's and dont's that I picked up over the years. (Eg: making sure im making occasional eye contact) This makes communicating very draining and I need days to weeks between socializations or i get overwhelmed. I will also temporarily lose my ability to speak if im super stressed/overwhelmed (not uncommon in verbal autistic people) Some nonverbal autistic people can keep up with a conversation fine if given a little patience to communicate in whatever ways they find most convenient while others may struggle a lot more and need extra help. And im sure there are a ton of other experiences in between or that i am unaware of. The main commonality is that it impacts all of our abilities to communicate to others in a way that others can often understand or resonate with. Each of the umbrella categories is like this. Sensory issues? Are you super sensitive to pain or do you hardly feel pain? I am very sensitive to sound but I am not picky with food at all. For some autistic people, touch physically hurts them but the same person might not mind any of the sounds that cause me stress. Either way, it's still sensory isses. Most people can experience a few of these categories. Being sound sensitive alone doesnt make you autistic. Neither does struggling to pick up on sarcasm alone. But having something in each of these categories does. Many, many autistic people also have other comorbid disorders such as learning disabilities, anxiety, adhd, ocd, etc. which also adds to the complexity. I dont claim to be a professional and could have missed something or worded something wrong but hopefully this helps somewhat. I find the theory of monotropism does a good job of helping explain a lot of the autistic traits and how they make sense, despite how wide and varied it all seems to be.
The phrase was made because it's considered bad luck if you wish someone "good luck," before they go on stage, so it's basically wishing them bad luck in hopes they'll get the opposite effect
When you break a leg, your leg gets put in a cast. People say this before someone auditions so they're hoping they get *into the cast of the show* - it's word play. I always found it odd too.
Honestly, I'm glad you're willing to ask, and while I can't answer the question, I can give some context. It's funny because the test for autism is based off the stereotypes that you have to love trains, never make eye contact, and not have emotions (which isn't even accurate). There's plenty of autistic people unable to get diagnosed because of the stereotypes, and there's not really much the diagnosis can do for you anyway.
There's actually plenty of people on the spectrum that have gone to great colleges and have amazing careers, but if a place finds out you're autistic, they no longer want you there. The news uses this to their advantage to say it's the first to get to this spot or that spot, but it's more this person was "found out," and hasn't gotten in as much trouble for it this time.
Most mask, which basically means they're forced to act like they are normal, because that's the only way they're allowed to live. If we don't mask, we often have to prove we aren't "broken," and that we're people too, though sometimes they're okay with it.
It also doesn't help that every time the "experts," say they're going to fix the test and actually help those that need help, the only thing they do is change a name, or admit that the test is flawed without fixing it.
We also tend to be either extremely good or extremely bad at each thing. For example, one could be extremely good at doing math in their head, but be horrid with abstract concepts
YES ^^
I'm pretty sure I'm neurodivergent. But it's like I understand social cues. I'm very good at expressing and controlling emotions, I make eye contact, I don't even like trains, they kind of scare me. I don't fit any stereotype but ever single autistic person I've spoken to has basically just gone 'yeah, you're probably autistic' but I don't fit the stereotypes.
And we're not broken, but we're taught that we are, so we change it. And there is a spectrum of autism, and 'high functioning' and 'low functioning' aren't allowed anymore, I don't even remember the terms anymore. And I don't know what it means anyways. Autism exists. Autism is a spectrum. But people don't treat it like that. People say 'oh you can't be autistic, you're making eye contact right now'. Or, I've even been told 'You're not autistic, you're not good at math', which is stupid as fuck, one. And two, why would that matter, right?
I wouldn't say autism as a term is obsolete, but it is way too broad, and people use it incorrectly, which makes it even more broad, and it's also an insult now in many circles, um, so it's just not good anymore. It's a term that's important, but it's not used in a specific way which makes it hard to understand what it means most of the time.
There used to be more terms. Aspergers was one but that was named after a n@zi so they changed it. Also the understanding has changed, since many of the early research didnt include women, nb people or minorities.
But at it's base, there are 10 categories/subcategories in the DSM5 that are assessed and at least 8 must be met in order to have a diagnoses. (A1-3, B1-4, C, D, E)
The categories are umbrellas and the ways they are expressed can vary.
For example, difficulty communicating. Some autistic people are nonverbal.
Some are nonverbal as kids but become verbal adults.
And some are verbal but may struggle to communicate in other ways.
Eg: I can speak but I often(really often) forget words when i need them and I struggle with social cues. But even then, i dont miss them as much as i used to. If anything im hyper-aware of everyone's facial expressions because im terrified of making a mistake. On the outside that can look like im socializing just fine but in reality every time i socialize i am actively going over a mental checklist of do's and dont's that I picked up over the years. (Eg: making sure im making occasional eye contact)
This makes communicating very draining and I need days to weeks between socializations or i get overwhelmed. I will also temporarily lose my ability to speak if im super stressed/overwhelmed (not uncommon in verbal autistic people)
Some nonverbal autistic people can keep up with a conversation fine if given a little patience to communicate in whatever ways they find most convenient while others may struggle a lot more and need extra help. And im sure there are a ton of other experiences in between or that i am unaware of.
The main commonality is that it impacts all of our abilities to communicate to others in a way that others can often understand or resonate with.
Each of the umbrella categories is like this. Sensory issues? Are you super sensitive to pain or do you hardly feel pain? I am very sensitive to sound but I am not picky with food at all. For some autistic people, touch physically hurts them but the same person might not mind any of the sounds that cause me stress. Either way, it's still sensory isses.
Most people can experience a few of these categories. Being sound sensitive alone doesnt make you autistic. Neither does struggling to pick up on sarcasm alone. But having something in each of these categories does.
Many, many autistic people also have other comorbid disorders such as learning disabilities, anxiety, adhd, ocd, etc. which also adds to the complexity.
I dont claim to be a professional and could have missed something or worded something wrong but hopefully this helps somewhat.
I find the theory of monotropism does a good job of helping explain a lot of the autistic traits and how they make sense, despite how wide and varied it all seems to be.
It is a spectrum. I understand sarcasm usually but don’t get phrases like “break a leg”.
The phrase was made because it's considered bad luck if you wish someone "good luck," before they go on stage, so it's basically wishing them bad luck in hopes they'll get the opposite effect
When you break a leg, your leg gets put in a cast. People say this before someone auditions so they're hoping they get *into the cast of the show* - it's word play. I always found it odd too.