Ignorant Comments About Autism?

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You're a very intelligent woman. Don't listen to that lady.

"autism means selfish"

thank you

Note: this post is just to clarify a couple of similar-sounding terms, and does not report or directly address any ignorant comments about Autism.

autism (n): from German Autismus, coined 1912 by Swiss psychiatrist Paul Bleuler from Greek autos "self" + "-ismos" suffix of action or of state. The notion is of "morbid self-absorption."

Selfishness and self-absorption are two different things.

selfish: (1) concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself; (2) seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others; (3) arising from concern with one's own welfare or advantage in disregard of others. See Narcissistic.

self-absorbed: absorbed in one's own thoughts, activities, or interests. See Autistic.

Eugen Bleuler was one of Freud's mentors.

He used the term to refer to the "self-absorption" found in schizophrenia, then called "dementia praecox."

The teacher in question had never taught me, and I think I'm glad because he clearly wouldn't be too helpful.

One thing that I would count is someone asking if I am high or low functioning right in front of me.

Or I had a friend who at least was more direct and asked me, but I find that a pretty ignorant and rude question to ask... Because it implies that people don't know what goes into high vs. low functioning if you ask a person that, or you ask someone else that while they are standing right there.

I find the using Autism as an insult falling into ignorant category too.

In high school, I had a friend who made an honest mistake, confusing Alzheimer's with Aspergers and getting the words mixed up.

I was told that I wouldn't be comfortable doing certain things and didn't have the skills to do others. It turned out I wasn't comfortable doing certain things the first time I did them (speaking in public, teaching) and didn't think I had the physical skills or coordination to play tennis, but I have done and am doing all of these things. Virtually nobody is comfortable speaking in public the first time they do it but, with practice, they improve a lot.

One-track mind, obsessive (Yes, I am passionate about my favorite subjects, but the information I gather has been stored in my memory long after the initial obsession faded, so I can give factual information about it when asked).

I was told I seem very "mainstream" by one of my profs (luckily not one from my major) at uni. I know where she was coming from but I still found it offensive.

I actually had a counselor tell me that all Autistic people are defiant and love to argue.

^^^She's probably talking out of her butt.....I've never heard any such thing.

What I hear about autistic people is that they DON'T like to argue and that they are not "socially able" to be defiant.

Someone told me I didn't look like I had autism. They also wanted me to be neurotypical because of that. It made me feel sad. One of my teachers assumed I was good in math but I really was not. They kept on saying I was gifted in it, but they would have to explain simple math concepts to me over and over again. They still thought I must be gifted in it though, they wouldn't give that up. It was really frustrating actually because I felt pressured. This was a mainstream class though, probably not the best fit for me. I had relatives that wouldn't let me eat gluten and stuff because they believed gluten was bad for autism. I don't understand that fully.

Friend: “You don’t look autistic”
Me: “well what do you think an autistic person looks like?”
Friend: “I don’t know but you don’t look autistic.”
Me: “well what do you know about autism?”
Friend: “nothing but I just don’t think you’re autistic.”


Mom: “You’re too social to be autistic”



Mom: “I have a photo of my brother and in that photo he has his mouth open and looks almost like he’s drooling. I think he might have had undiagnosed autism”
Me: “ummmm....Idk”

I've been accused of arguing a lot. People often don't understand me or my point of view or opinion. I feel I have to explain myself & why I do/did something & why I believe/support/agree/disagree with whatever which comes off as arguing to others. When I was in elementary skewl I received a few various supports & accommodations for different things & in one of my reports or plans it mentioned that someone suspected I had ODD(Oppositional Defiant Disorder). My mom suspected I was autistic since I was a toddler but no so-called "professionals" thought I was until I got recertified for dyslexia accommodations between 9th & 10 grade. The guy wasn't certified to diagnose Aspergers thou so he just put in my report for my parents & skewl that he suspected I had it.


Maybe your teacher was telling you that you were gifted so you'd build up some self-esteem &/or confidence. It had the opposite effect on you thou cuz they unintentionally made you feel pressured & feeling pressured can cause people to do worse. Some adults in my life when I was a kid would tell me I'm smart but most of my classmates were very willing to let me know they believed I was stupid at best & ret*d at worst. Maybe it's kinda like how parents tell their kids that their kids paintings are great. The parents go on about how much they love it but the parents cant even tell what it's a paining of & they still don't see it even after the kid explains it to them.
Some autistics do have various digestive issues & have found some of their autism symptoms got alitte better after they changed their diets. That was the case with my 2nd girlfriend who's on the spectrum. She realized she was casein intolerant & had some kinda issues when she ate most types of meat(she could still eat a few types like turkey I think but had to avoid most). There's a blood test that can check to see if your gluten intolerant. My current girlfriend who's also on the spectrum had that blood test done cuz her mom has Celiac disease & my girlfriend had lots of various issues; she tested negative for it. I just read on a couple sites that some symptoms related to Celiac disease can include depression, fatigue, ataxia(certain movement disorders), & diarrhea. Us autistics can have depression & fatigue due to the stress of trying to live in a world not designed for us. A common comorbid with autism is Dyspraxia which is a certain type of movement disorder. Anxiety is also a common with autism & anxiety can sometimes cause diarrhea. Various symptoms can overlap with many different disorders & can get very confusing for people who don't research this stuff. Plus there's a lot of misinformation out there about various disorders & symptoms.


This is another ignorant thing related to autism & I'm starting to see it more on the net. The word Autism has become a slang term for something like Troll on various sites & forums.

That is probably her perception. I don't think they like to argue, they just get into arguments because they think you are not understanding them so they keep "arguing" when their intention is trying to get you to get it and understand. They have no idea you have a different perspective or that you see it differently.

Every autistic person is different so not all of them are going to "argue" and they will instead think you are an idiot and not bother engaging with you or think you don't really care and don't want to get it so there is no point in that discussion.

One of the two worst comments i've had was by an elderly woman in a retirement village - you're so intelligent but so stupid. Perceptive perhaps but not nice. The other was by a guy at a government funded employment agency interviewing me for a job. You have autism and you're still alive? I was about 64.