What you see in the title is something that someone I grew up with said about my autism.

I was reminded of this when I saw something just now.

A lot of people still think autism is interchangeable with being mentally handicapped. And some extremely stupid people think it’s something you can “beat” like it’s some sort of affliction that destroys families.

Autism speaks is one such organization that says it’s like that last part.

I don’t know how to define autism and neither do 100% of autism specialists I’ve spoken to

This is just me venting about people who don’t get it and refuse to learn each case of autism is unique

  • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
    7·
    11 days ago

    We need some Autistic people to get obsessive over defining Autism.

    I do think it is kind of possible to “beat” Autism. If you get to know yourself you can learn to better expect your own tendencies. Essentially you can learn to recognize when you start to get over stimulated or obsessed and then you can take action. For instance it might be necessary to step out of a social event for a “bathroom break.” Autism is not going to disappear and if you learn to recognize it you will be much better off.

    • fairchild@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      31·
      11 days ago

      I mean, you are right about getting to know yourself and trying to navigate difficult situations, but there is a difference between beating Autism and just being better off. Trying to get through certain situations might work on some occasions, but honestly, there’s days it is absolutely impossible, eapecially if you run into unforeseen events. And then still, this might be very subjective and depends on other factors that make up a person.

      • yetiftw@lemmy.world
        2·
        11 days ago

        really the impossibility level depends on how much you care about what other people think of you

        • fairchild@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          1·
          11 days ago

          I mean not caring too much is usually my approach too and this works 9/10. I was thinking more of edge cases, e.g. an important appointment when you have one of those really bad days, where you can’t just go “Yeah, whatever” but will fuck up some major things in your life or will regret not having been able to act “normal” for a while.