being an aspie is now a desirable quality on tumblr. Uh?

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So if you look on tumblr or reddit or Twitter you can see now that a bunch of youth on tumblr are reblogging aspie quizzes and putting in their bios that they are Aspergers and an aspie along with their personality tape and using new terms like "neurotypical privelege", and basically adding their entire social Justice hive mentality shtick.... when will this stop? As a real young man with autism, I have never once identified or publicly made my diagnosis define me because to me it's my version of normal but people faking it all for their own narcisisism and Internet presence and to be a "special snowflake", is honestly terrifying to watch

I don't see a problem with it. Like you, I don't really identify myself publicly, but I do so pretty freely here and on Tumblr and Reddit. All three communities have been important to me and helpful in my diagnosis process for different reasons. I recognize that there are definitely some people on those sites (and this one as well) who identify as on the spectrum for reasons like the ones you listed. However, in my experience they're in the minority. Most people are just trying to understand themselves better, and I don't consider it my position to police their diagnosis, or make judgements about them. I certainly wouldn't want them doing the same to me.

I feel the exact same way but what if someone is faking it? That to me is very dangerous and I can detect the callous mentalities

Tumblr is a sh***y website

I have a tumblr specifically for AS and all that comes with it. It's anonymous.

It gives me some relief to know that I'm not the only person experiencing life like this. Which is the same reason I come on to this website.

This place feels good

Torin: That's Alexander Hamilton, right?

Was. Now it's Jefferson Davis.

LOL...you didn't change your avatar because of me?

Seriously: I don't know too much about online sites. I've never been on one. The last time I dated was before the internet became widespread. I wouldn't rely on them, though--unless you're in the middle of nowhere.

Tumblr is home to social justice warriors.
And no. It's a coincidence

I noticed this last year when I first joined tumblr because I was doing an autism blog for my high school graduation project.
To be honest though, it's not just autism - it's basically any disorder. Seriously. My friend (who uses tumblr much more than I do) has told me about how, for example, now being a "sociopath" is cool (at least on tumblr - it's known for lots of self-diagnoses). The irony is that these kids self-diagnosing themselves as ASD, OCD, bipolar, and even schizophrenia seem to have no idea what the disorders even mean.

I will admit that there is someone who identifies as having low functioning autism on tumblr. They're kind of well known in the autistic community, but there's also a lot of controversy surrounding whether they're actually autistic or not. This person is basically what you described, and I'm sure there are others on there as well. So I suppose one possibility is these kids are interacting with people who are saying they're autistic, perhaps even asking them about it, and they end up getting incorrect information about the disorder. I've personally interacted with the person I mentioned before because they were spreading false information about autism saying having a speech delay is "very autistic" making it sound like everyone who has one is also autistic.

Last edited by Jezebel on 21 Jan 2015, 7:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Tumblr is a home to social justice Warriors.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.p ... ce+warrior

This will explain why they do this, you lunatics.

Indeed.

It's as if some people see being an Aspie as being a member of a special club, when it is really just a matter of having a developmental disorder.

Jezebel: Exactly... That's what's hard to tell, who is telling the truth ? And honestly if someone says they are autistic I believe them because that self diagnosis sometimes validates a lot of painful things they deal with like we do BUT the ones who are faking it. Could they handle Echochalia? The glass wall? alienation? Intrusive images of murder and sex? Would it REALLY be that cool when you are battling your brain? Hmm.... It's almost like heroin chic, you dress up like a heroin addict but if you were one - would it be so chic? Would they be so special?

To be honest, from my experiences, I'd say those who self-diagnose for the purpose of wanting to understand themselves are on sites like this. They're not "bragging" (I've seen someone brag about how "high" their 30-something AQ score was!) on social media sites about how they're autistic because they want to be special.

I brag because my AQ is barely borderline at 25