Everyone is on the spectrum somewhere.

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I'm a teacher and several times lately other teachers have said to me that everyone is on the autistic spectrum somewhere. This really infuriates me, but I'm not sure how to argue against that statement. It's tricky because they don't know I have AS. Any ideas on what I could say next time someone says that? Thanks

this frustrates me, too -- my mom likes to talk about how "everyone is on the spectrum." unfortunately, I don't have any advice for you. :C

Say "only if you count the area that is "off the spectrum" as part of the spectrum" or something.

"That's a very annoying way to trivialise the problems actual autistics face everyday".

My first thought was "Which spectrum would you be talking about? The spectrum of human behavioral traits?" (<--Probably not the best thing to say.)

Well, it's true though, because the spectrum ranges all the way from fully autistic to fully neurotypical.

Perhaps they're saying that everyone's got at least one Aspie trait which doesn't make them Aspie. My friend lives near some ''typical'' NTs, but they are the most selfish people of all. They sit outside one of the flats in the carpark 'til about 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning, socialising. No alcohol is involved, so they don't get all drunk. They just sit there in fold-up chairs, laughing and joking all night, when there are people who are trying to sleep and have to get up for work the next day. Now, if that isn't selfish, then tell me what is. Although they are normal NTs because they know how to socialise well, they're still not doing it at an appropriate time and place. There's plenty of other places to socialise other than sit in the middle of a carpark surrounded by other flats, which have other people living in, besides them.

That is just one of many examples.

This infuriates me as well, tell them that it would be like someone saying everyone has ADD or ADHD which is entirely not true. Yes everyone has difficulty concentrating but the fact remains that that in order to be diagnosed you have to suffer from the symptoms constantly for a extended period of time. Also another difference is that these so called traits of being on the spectrum cannot be turned on/off in a non-neurotypical without extensive retraining and even then sometimes change will never come.

I'm a teacher and several times lately other teachers have said to me that everyone is on the autistic spectrum somewhere. This really infuriates me, but I'm not sure how to argue against that statement. It's tricky because they don't know I have AS. Any ideas on what I could say next time someone says that? Thanks

Thats kind of as bad as whenever I tried to tell anyone I thought there was something abnormal about me.....and was just told(by my parents) everyone goes through the same things and I just need to get over it. Well no not everyone struggles with social interaction, slow processing speed of things, severe depression ect. So that is the sort of ignorance I grew up with having to more or less totally fend for myself in the face of criticism based on the assumption i was just oversensative about things everyone deals with.

Thats kind of as bad as whenever I tried to tell anyone I thought there was something abnormal about me.....and was just told(by my parents) everyone goes through the same things and I just need to get over it. Well no not everyone struggles with social interaction, slow processing speed of things, severe depression ect. So that is the sort of ignorance I grew up with having to more or less totally fend for myself in the face of criticism based on the assumption i was just oversensative about things everyone deals with.

So yes it does annoy me when people make ignorant comments like that about other peoples difficulties.

There's this whole group of "anti-labeling" people who are really just anti-labeling because they have no empathy for the difficulties of others, having never experienced those same difficulties themselves. Some people say that bipolar disorder is just a case of mood swings and why can't these people just get over them already. And don't forget that we're all a little OCD.

Just because they're the majority population smack dab in the comfortable middle of a world designed by and for them, they think that everyone with difficulties is a whiny little bastard who needs to try harder to be avoid inconveniencing them. No, sorry, not everyone is on the autism spectrum, and we're not all a little bipolar, OCD, or ADHD. Funny how no one says that they're a little schizophrenic. Why isn't everyone on the schizophrenia spectrum too?

Whether or not it is true that everyone is on the spectrum somewhere, such a belief need not be any kind of commentary on where you are on it.

I don't think they realize that the statement could be potentially hurtful to someone whose life has been seriously affected by AS, ADHD, OCD, or whatever other disorders they want to talk about. It's possible that everyone has at least some traits of being autistic, but not everyone is actually autistic.

I think the real problem, though, is that empathy backfires a bit. Since most everyone can relate to "having trouble making friends", for example, it's something that is seen as normal. Same with depression. The difference is the severity... and I think that's what people have trouble understanding. They assume that their experiences were the same, but they got through it okay. The problem is that not everyone is wired the same way... there are true neurological differences.

I would have to say horses**t to that therory.

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. I will definitely be using some of your ideas so let's hope I can change some people's opinions of the autistic spectrum