Autistic Stereotypes You're Sick Of Hearing?

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Everyone on the Spectrum are fakes.

All males on the Spectrum will always be prone to violence.

Everyone on the Spectrum can easily be taken advantage of because we cannot advocate for ourselves.

That we stop learning at one point and never mature beyond childhood, no matter how intelligent we are
Not imaginative or creative (Okay, sometimes I feel I can't plan my way out of a paper bag, especially when anxiety takes hold.)

All Aspies are always arrogant and inconsiderate of others around them like Sheldon Cooper is on
The Big Bang Theory.

Everyone on the Spectrum will never find true love.

All Aspies express eccentric behavior and/or have issues related to self-esteem.

Everyone on the Spectrum will never find independence at all.

the neat and tidy, ridiculously literal, non expressive, just a little quirky stereotype. i watched The good Doctor and Atypical and i feel these characters both play to this stereotype, and amongst other characters it creates a false expectations on how autistic people act.

Autistic people CAN often be disorganized, messy and sometimes even to the point of having a very unsanitary enviroment.

taking things literal IS apart of autism and it happens but GOD they overplay it on television. this behaviour is more prevalent in autistic children (i personally remember having a really hard time with phrases like "your front door is open" and checking the front door every time, when in reality they were talking about the zipper on my pants) but the thing is i never met a autistic person who had difficulty with figurative speech and many people on the spectrum i know (who are adults) use it regularly.

im sick of this flat faced stereotype. it exists, i think all these stereotypes are based in some form of fiction but its very common to meet expressive or even overly expressive and animated autistic people.

and finally the "just a little quirky" thing, it doesnt bother me that much but again, it creates a false and somewhat romanticized idea of what autism really could manifest to be. ive heard criticisms before where people say "you dont seem autistic at all" (which i take as a compliment) and then they do a flip and say " why are you biting yourself? thats weird!" " whoa you like sonic a little TOO much! thats weird." " act your age" and to me its a little funny. of course thats just the nature of autism, no one REALLY knows what it is or what it can look like.

I disagree with the "literal thinking" stereotype. As a person who worked with words in some way or another, I fully understand metaphors, similes and the like.

As for the flat affect, that one is a big no, too. I wish I could keep my emotions from showing in my face.

Unfortunately I would confirm the flat affect stereotype for anyone that meets me.

That autism is so over-diagnosed, not unlike ADHD.

That you can't be autistic because "you're nothing like my autistic child".

That we're all either extremely good with math, technology, etc. or are very artistically gifted.

Heck, that we all have some sort of useful talent, skill, or interest. That just makes me feel worse about myself - I have no talents or skills, and my interests in Tool, Pokemon, and Hellraiser aren't ever going to get me anywhere.

That because I'm diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, I must be very high-functioning and perfectly capable of anything an NT can do - the only reason I don't succeed is because I'm not trying hard enough. And there's no way I can possibly have selective mutism - I clearly just don't want to speak.

People saying that just about anything and everything either causes or can cure autism.

That we have no empathy. I have far more empathy than the average NT can even imagine, and am also somewhat empathic - I just don't know how to show it or how to make people feel better.

How every time there's a school shooting, people say the shooter had Asperger's/autism.

That we don't feel emotions. We just don't always show them the way they expect, that doesn't mean we don't feel them.

That all females on the spectrum are excellent mimics, have more socially acceptable interests, and are much less obviously affected than males on the spectrum (none of those are true for me).

That Asperger's is just an excuse to be rude/a jerk (I actually wish people would tell me if something I say comes off that way, so I know not to make the same mistake again - I hate upsetting people in any way).

That there isn't a difference between a meltdown and a tantrum.

That after we're out of school, we no longer need any sort of support - either we're magically "cured" or we just vanish (or so they act, anyway).

That we all lack imagination and didn't enjoy imaginative play as children. I loved to play pretend, far past when most NTs "grow out of" it - heck, I'd still love to if anyone would play with me and I weren't so self-conscious about not acting a part perfectly or the other person/people thinking my ideas were stupid.

That we all lack "theory of mind" - in fact, it seems to me that NTs are more often the ones lacking in that area.

And probably a bunch more I'm not thinking of at the moment.

I. Suck. At. Math.

Me too. I don't think I ever got above a C in any math-related class from middle school on, and it wasn't for lack of effort. Numbers and formulae just don't stick in my mind no matter how hard I try.

I am sick, sick, sick of hearing that autistic people do not feel empathy towards others. I feel and show a great deal of empathy towards other people.

sometimes more than Non-autistics

So do I. During my high school years, I barely got average grades for homework and math tests, but now I'm actually glad no one helped me during that particular time. In fact, I'm glad I hardly had any friends during high school.

I'll take languages over math any day.

That autism is a label. It's a diagnosis and it's a lot better than labels like "slow", "stupid", "creepy", "lazy"...

That people use it as an excuse for everything. Autism is a reason, not an excuse.

That we all poop on the floor and roll around in it all day long like people in the mental asylums did well into the 60s.

I also hate the genius-stereotype. I've brought up before that TV show where they featured a few autistic savants, and since it aired, that stereotype has gotten way worse around here.
I keep on disappointing people who wants to know what my "superpower" is. I don't freakin' have one!

Also, my dad's reaction to the news of my diagnosis was quite disappointing: "But, you can't be. You have friends. And you get irony!" Oh my, what a relief. I thought I had ASD but apparently, having friends and getting irony excludes all those other problems that I would have thought was related to autism. I must have just made it all up.