#or low support needs.
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“Neurospicy” lends itself to those who are able to be viewed as “quirky” by society. By using it as a replacement for “neurodivergent,” you are alienating a large population of the people who fall under that category.
#we have a HUGE problem currently by making ‘neurodivergent’ synonymous with just ADHD or possibly sometimes also a low-supportive needs—#—autistic person#we LARGELY IGNORE those who cannot speak up for themselves—or even those who do.#how many people will have no recognition of this new movement because their problems don’t look like ours?#how many people will have to remind you all that dyslexia and dyspraxia are neurodivergencies?#‘neurospicy’ does NOT help those with higher support needs#and what about children? as in young kids? what of them being called ‘neurospicy?’#they are already not taken seriously and belittled by adults who seemingly ‘know better’#and we want to trade off a helpful label for something tiktok has us say to get around censors?#sorry but you cannot call my little brother ‘neurospicy’#and you cannot call ME ‘neurospicy’#I do not struggle every day for my issues to be cutesyfied#this is incredibly belittling. use it for yourself. do not use it for anyone else. do not call us a ‘neurospicy community’.#unless you intent to only include people with ADHD.#or low support needs.#like you usually do.#actually autistic#actually audhd
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As a medium/lower support needs autistic who works with young higher support needs autistic:
We all matter. We all have the same diagnosis. We all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
But we are not the same.
I can mask and might be seen as 'odd' or 'weird' in public. The students I work with are seen as 'dangerous' and 'practically little kids'.
I can go to university and work with accommodations. The students I work with likely will never live independently and a few might find jobs that support them but still pay them less than an abled worker.
I have full control of my finances. The students I work with aren't allowed to make independent financial decisions, even if capable.
If I say 'no,' I'm making a choice. The students I work with can't say 'no' without being labeled as defiant and difficult.
I can feed myself, bathe myself, and take care of myself with extreme challenges. The students I work with are unable to take care of themselves without high levels of support/one on one support.
I had an IEP in high school but was mainstreamed in classes. The students I work with take separate classes and some rarely get to interact with their abled peers.
Our experiences are fundamentally different. Higher support needs autistics will experience a specific type of ableism I never will, and can never fully understand.
Lower support needs autistics need to stop saying we understand what higher support needs autistics are going through and then present autism as only being disabling because of society/lack of acceptance because that is dangerous. We need to stop saying every autistic person is capable of everything if given the right support because that leaves out huge parts of our community who will never be able to do certain things, regardless of support.
We are worthy of existence regardless of our abilities.
Autism is a spectrum. It is not the same for every autistic person. Autism acceptance and advocacy has to come with accepting, acknowledging, and listening to our higher support needs peers.
#disabled#disability#actually autistic#autism#low support needs#medium support needs#high support needs#autistic pride#advocacy#acceptance#lightning rambles#important
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I think people have greatly watered down autism into this silly label or identity that they can collect.
I’ve seen multiple posts that defend that autism should be an identity, similar to how sexualities and gender labels are. I think they’re missing multiple things with this analogy. First, you cannot help your queerness. It’s not simply a “label” it’s your whole being. It’s who you are.
I want people to realize that autism is a serious disorder for over half of people diagnosed with autism. From more then 30% being higher support needs, to more than that having different comorbidities, it’s a serious disorder. Not only can it affect every aspect of your life, it can severely affect how your health is, how independent you are, etc.
To a lot of people autism isn’t “a silly label” it’s a disorder. A disorder that comes with comorbities, that affects how they speak or don’t speak, how they view the world, how the process or dont process things, etc.
Higher support needs people need to be recognized, and in turn you have to recognize the disorders that they have. You can’t ignore them. You can’t simply shrug it off as a silly little label or identity.
People deserve to have their life altering disorders taken seriously and not turned into something that’s shrugged off and seen as another add in the newspaper. Autism is serious. It’s a neurodevelopmental disorder. Say what it is. Don’t water it down.
That’s all.
#zebrambles#long post#autism#actually autism#actually autistic#support needs#high support needs#low support needs#medium support needs#higher support needs#Zebplanet
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Please stop infantlizing autistic people
Stop being weirded out when we cuss. Stop being weirded out when we talk about nsfw topics. Stop being weirded out when we are semiverbal or nonverbal.
We can smoke too, we can drink, vape, and cuss and do anything normal people can do. We can have (concented) sexual relationships. We can kiss people. We can have kinks. We can like BDSM or have fetishes. We are not innocent little kids.
Just because we have a disability doesn't mean we aren't people.
Just because we sometimes need to live with someone else doesn't mean we aren't people.
Just because we don't pick up on social clues doesn't mean we aren't people.
STOP INFANTILIZING US. STOP CALLING US INNOCENT. STOP THINKING YOU NEED TO PROTECT US. WE ARE REGULAR PEOPLE TOO.
#actually autistic#autism#autism awareness#disabled#nerodivergent#autistic things#autistic adult#autistic community#autistic#actually disabled#actually neurodivergent#high support needs#mid support needs#low support needs#autism thoughts#level 2 autism#level 2 autistic#autism level 2
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please please please STOP weird out when autistics specially nonverbal semiverbal autistics cuss talk about nsfw topics etc
deserve talk about topics if old enough like any other peers
autistic cuss have sexual relationship (with consent) consume alcohol date etc etc etc
STOP INFANTILIZING US we humans too
#disabled#actually autistic#neurodivergent#autism#autistic#autistic things#actually disabled#actually neurodivergent#semiverbal#unreliable speech#autism level 2#level 2 autism#autism community#autistic community#high support needs#mid support needs#low support needs#autism thoughts
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Please, if you can, take a moment to read and share this because I feel like I'm screaming underwater.
NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) stigma is rampant right now, and seems to be getting progressively worse. Everyone is using it as a buzzword in the worst ways possible, spreading misinformation and hatred against a real disorder.
I could go on a long time about how this happened, why it's factually incorrect (and what the disorder actually IS), why it's harmful, and the changes I'd like to see. But to keep this concise, I'll simply link to a few posts under the cut for further reading.
The point of this post is a plea. Please help stop the spread of stigma. Even in mental health communities, even around others with personality disorders, in neurodivergent "safe" spaces, other communities I thought people would be supportive in (e.g. trans support groups, progressive spaces in general), it keeps coming up. So I'm willing to bet that a lot of people on this site need to see this.
Because it's so hard to exist in this world.
My disorder already makes me feel as if I'm worthless and unlovable, like there's something inherently wrong and damaged about me. And it's so much harder to fight that and heal when my daily life consists of:
Laughing and spending time with my friends, doing my utmost best to connect and stay present and focused on them, trying to let my guards down and be real and believe I'm lovable- when suddenly they throw out the word "narcissist" to describe horrible people or someone they hate, or the conversation turns to how evil "people with narcissistic personality disorder" are. (Seriously, you don't know which of your friends might have NPD and feels like shit when you say those things & now knows that you'd hate them if you knew.)
Trying to look up "mental health positivity for people with npd", "mental health positivity cluster bs", only to find a) none of that, and b) more of the same old vile shit that makes me feel terrible about myself.
Having a hard time (which is constant at this point) and trying to look up resources for myself, only to again, find the same stigma. And no resources.
Not having any clue how to help myself, because even the mental health field is spitting so much vitriol at people with DISORDERS (who they're supposed to be helping!) that there's no solid research or therapy programs for people like me.
Losing close friends when they find out, despite us having had a good relationship before, and them KNOWING me and knowing that I'm not like the trending image of pwNPD. Because now they only see me through the lens of stigma and misinformation.
Hearing the same stigma come up literally wherever I go. Clubs. Meetings. Any online space. At the bus stop. At the mall. At a restaurant. At work. Buzzword of the year that everyone loooves loudly throwing around with their friends or over the phone. Feels awesome for me, makes my day so much better/s
I could go on for a long time, but I'm scared no one will read/rb this if it gets too much longer.
So please. Stop using the word "narcissist" as a synonym for "abusive".
Stop bringing up people you hate who you believe to have NPD because of a stigmatizing article full of misinformation whenever someone with actual NPD opens their mouth. (Imagine if people did that with any other disorder! "Hey, I'm autistic." "Oh... my old roommate screamed at me whenever I made noise around him, and didn't understand my needs, which seems like sensory overload and difficulty with social cues. He was definitely autistic. But as long as you're self-aware and always restraining your innate desire to be an abusive asshole, you're okay I guess, maybe." ...See how offensive and ignorant that is?)
Stop preventing healthcare for people with a disorder just because it's trendy to use us as a scapegoat.
If you got this far, thank you for reading, and please share this if you can. Further reading is under the cut.
NPD Criteria, re-written by someone who actually has NPD
Stigma in the DSM
Common perception of the DSM criteria vs how someone may actually experience them (Keep in mind that this is the way I personally experience these symptoms, and that presentation can vary a lot between individuals)
"Idk, the stigma is right though, because I've known a lot of people with NPD who are jerks, so I'm going to continue to support the blockage of treatment for this condition."
(All of these were written by me, because I didn't want to link to other folks' posts without permission, but if you want to add your own links in reblogs or replies please feel free <3)
#actuallynpd#signal boost#actuallyautistic#mental health awareness#narcissistic personality disorder#people also need to realize that mental health professionals aren't immune from bias#(it really shouldn't come as a shock that the mental health field has a longstanding pattern of misunderstanding and mistreating ppl who ar#mentally ill or otherwise ND)#the first therapist i brought up NPD to like. literally pulled out the DSM bc she could barely remember the criteria. then said that there'#no way I have it because I have low self-esteem lmaoooooo#anyway throwback to being at work and chatting with a co-worker. and the conversation turning to mental health. and him saying that#he tries to stay informed and be aware and supportive of mental health conditions & that he doesn't want to be ignorant or spread harmful#misinformation. and then i mentioned that i do a lot of research into mental health stuff and i listed a bunch of things. which included#several personality disorders. one of which was NPD.#and after listening to my whole ass list he zeroed in on the NPD and immediately started talking about how narcissists are abusive and#he knew someone who had NPD and how the person who had it had an addiction and died from the addiction in a horrible way and he#was glad he did#fun times#or when i decided to be vulnerable and talk abt my self-criticism/self-hatred bc i knew my friends also struggled w that and i wanted to#support them by sharing my own coping methods. and they both(separately!) started picking and prodding at my npd through the lens of stigma#bc i'd recently opened up to them abt having it. they recognized self-hatred as a symptom and still jumped on me for it. despite me#trying to share hurt vulnerable parts of myself to help them and connect with them.#again..... fun times
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one of the things that annoys me so bad right now is seeing letterboxd reviews about Lisa Frankenstein being like "she's such a horrible character", "those people didn't deserve to be killed" blah blah blah
SHUT UP
it's a horror romance!! a girl keeps a reanimated dead guy in her closet and falls in love with him! what did you think was going to happen? it's SUPPOSED to be fucked up and weird and that's part of its charm. quit being boring, let female characters (esp in horror) be messy and chaotic and morally gray.
#i really need to stop reading the low rating letterboxd reviews#i just get so curious about what people didnt like about movies#and most of the time they just make me annoyed lol#anywas go see this movie#i support womens rights and womens wrongs#lisa frankenstein#i love me a Frankenstein re-imagining#horror#horror hype#i live out my god complex through evil little scientists#<- thats my Frankenstein-esque media tag
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Here's to the autistics who are "way too aggressive". Here's to the autistics who get angry easily. Here's to the autistics who are impulsive. Here's to the autistics who have destructive meltdowns. Here's to the autistics who's anger ruins friendships/relationships. Here's to the autistics who can't control their emotions. Here's to the autistics who are bitter and mad. I see you, I love you (platonically), and I hope you have a great day.
#actually autistics#autism#asd#level 1 autism#actually autism#actually autistic#actuallyautistic#neurodivergent#low support needs#autism meltdowns#autism aggression#neurodivergence#level 2 autism#level 2 autistic#level 3 autism
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Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are ADULTS. Not eternal children
#low support needs#medium support needs#actually autistic#ableism#developmentalal disability#developmentally disabled#I/DD
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Currently waiting for people to realise that yes, the autistic teens, kids, adults and elders who are always swarmed by aids, cannot speak, lash out, have limited speech, act “dumb”, run away into dangerous places (eg. Roads, pools ect.) when overwhelmed, are similar to the autistic stereotype or in general don’t act in a “civilised manner”
Have access to the internet
They are on tumblr
We are on tumblr
And we don’t appreciate being your punching bag, being excluded from conversations about accessibility, or used as a tool by high functioning autistics who want to say “oh look at me I’m not like the autistics who bite people or make weird sounds in public or need support, I’m just unique and have fun interests.”
We are real people and we are smarter then you think.
Edit: thanks to the people who pointed out that smart wasn’t the right word! So I’m going to add this: the opinions of me, a low functioning autistic who has the privilege to be able to write coherently and communicate my opinions and views in two different languages, holds the exact same weight as someone who cannot do any of those things and in fact sometimes it’s their opinion and views that matter more. The opinion of “smart” autistics matters just as much as the opinion of “non smart” autistics and people you would consider dumb. Lower functioning autistics who are not conventionally or, at all, “smart” are just as human, important and valuable and deserve to have their opinions taken into consideration just as much as I do writing this. You don’t loose your value as a human or as a disabled person when you aren’t smart.
#actually autistic#autism#disabled#mentally disabled#don’t come at me for using functioning labels I am low functioning#in fact I am barely functioning#disability#high support needs
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support need deserve met even if technically can survive without
and
if able not die without support, have advantage than people who would die without support
both true same time
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I've reached 35 responses! They're very interesting, but the sample size is still small, and I don't think it's at all representative of the Tumblr autism community. If I can't reach at least 100 responses, I don't think I'll be able to analyze Tumblr community views on support needs in depth. I'll still post descriptive statistics for the overall sample, but I won't have the statistical power to do anything else.
I'd really appreciate if everyone could help by taking the survey and reblogging this post to their followers!
As a reminder, the survey is meant to understand how people use support needs labels. For example, what makes someone low support needs and not moderate support needs? The survey also helps show what the community is like in general in terms of demographics and experiences!
A summary of the current survey results are under the Read More. Again, especially if a community that you're in is under-represented, please help by spreading the survey link! I'd especially love to hear from more people AMAB, racial/ethnic minorities, people who are not yet diagnosed or were diagnosed as adults, and higher support needs individuals!
Age: Most participants are young; 60% are under age 25%, and 20% are under 18.
Gender: Over half of the sample is AFAB nonbinary, almost 1/3 is trans men, and almost all of the remainder (14%) is cis women. Only 2 people who are AMAB have taken the survey.
Race/Ethnicity: Non-Hispanic White people are very over-represented, making up 82% of the sample.
Diagnosis: 57% are professionally diagnosed, 20% are informally or soft-diagnosed, and 14% are seeking a diagnosis. Only 9% are neither diagnosed nor seeking a diagnosis.
The most common diagnoses are ASD with no level (33%), level 1 ASD (25%), and "mild autism" (13%).
16% were diagnosed before age 8, 24% between ages 9 and 15, 32% between ages 16 and 18, 12% between ages 19 and 25, and 16% over age 25.
Autism Support Needs: The most common self-identified support needs label is "low-moderate" (43%), followed by low (23%) and moderate (14%). Most would benefit from but do not need weekly support (31%), only need accommodations and mental health support (17%), or rarely need any support (6%).
Autism Symptoms: On a severity scale of 0 (not applicable) to 3 (severe), the average is 1.7 overall, 1.8 socially, and 1.7 for restricted-repetitive behaviors. The most severe symptom is sensory issues (2.1), and the least severe are nonverbal communication and stimming (both 1.5).
83% are fully verbal, and 97% have no intellectual disability.
38% can mask well enough to seem "off" but not necessarily autistic. 21% can't mask well or for long.
Most experience shutdowns (94%), difficulties with interoception (80%), meltdowns (71%), alexithymia (71%), echolalia (69%), and autistic mutism (66%). Very few experience psychosis (14%) or catatonia (11%).
Self-Diagnosis: 20% think it's always fine to self-diagnose autism, 29% think it's almost always fine, 31% think it's only okay if an assessment is inaccessible, 71% think it needs to be done carefully, and 11% think it's okay to suspect but not self-diagnose.
15% think it's always fine to self-diagnose autism DSM-5 levels (including if the person has been told they don't have autism), 15% think it's fine as long as autism hasn't been ruled out, 21% think it's almost always fine, 18% think it's only okay if an assessment is inaccessible, 36% think it needs to be done carefully, and 36% think it's okay to suspect but not self-diagnose.
26% think it's always fine to self-diagnose autism support needs labels (including if the person has been told they don't have autism), 29% think it's fine as long as autism hasn't been ruled out, 37% think it's almost always fine, 29% think it's only okay if an assessment is inaccessible, 43% think it needs to be done carefully, and 6% think it's okay to suspect but not self-diagnose.
Disability: 71% feel disabled by autism, 17% feel disabled by another condition but not autism, and 11% are unsure.
Comorbidities: The most common mental health comorbidities are anxiety (68%), ADHD (62%), and depression (56%).
The least common mental health disorders are schizophrenia spectrum disorders (0%), bipolar disorders (3%), tic disorders (6%), substance use disorders (6%), personality disorder (9%), and OCD (9%).
The most common physical health comorbidities are gastrointestinal issues (29%), connective tissue disorders (29%), autoimmune disorders (24%), neurological disorders or injuries (24%), and hearing/vision loss (24%). All others are below 20%.
Overall Support Needs: When considering comorbidities, the most common self-identified support needs label is moderate (37%), followed by low-moderate (31%) and low (17%).
#autism#actually autistic#actuallyautistic#level 1 autism#level 2 autism#level 3 autism#low support needs#moderate support needs#medium support needs#high support needs
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I want people to understand. Being visibly autistic, being low masking, it isn’t fun.
I want people to understand this before they go on their unmasking journey. I want people to understand this before they start “acting more autistic”. I want people to understand this. It isn’t fun. It isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. I understand completely that I live in a more unaccepting area, but this is the reality for many people who are visibly autistic everywhere!
It isn’t fun. We get yelled at, called slurs, stared at, infantilized, talked over, ignored, etc etc. it isn’t fun. It HURTS.
Please please, if youre masking then realize your privilege, it’s a HARD privilege to have. I get that. It’s hard to mask, it’s hard to be passed as NT, it’s HARD. But it’s also hard to be visibly autistic. It’s so so hard. 
#zebrambles#autism#actually autism#medium support needs#actually autistic#low masking#medium masking#masking#high masking#visibly autistic
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The fact that autistic adults are being bullied off the internet because they share videos of themselves stimming or sharing their special interests is appalling. What's even more disgusting is the fact that a lot of the people bullying autistic adults off the internet for this are low support needs autistics.
Autistic adults sharing videos of themselves stimming isn't "making autistic adults look childish" or "an obvious sign of faking autism". Autistic adults sharing their special interests isn't "immature" or "childish".
Low support needs autistic adults are all for "autism acceptance", "autism awareness" and "fuck ableism" until other autistic adults, no matter where they are on the spectrum, publicly share what autism looks like for them.
#and before anybody comes after me for this post#i AM a low support needs autistic adult#actually autistic#autism#autistic#autistic adult#neurodivergent#neurodiversity
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So many therapists are LAUGHABLY misinformed about autism. When I was first researching autism I brought it up to my therapist and she laughed it off because I knew not to only talk about my special interests during therapy, and I didn’t stim super visibly and frequently. That was an incredibly invalidating experience for me.
Even after that, when I could tell she’d considered it further and realized my theory had merit, it was like she was afraid of the word autism. She’d say I was quirky, or a little different, or just very sensitive, and that I “moved at my own rhythm”. At the very most she’d admit that I might have some slight traits but if I was autistic I would be “very very high-functioning” and probably didn’t meet enough criteria to be diagnosed. She agreed I should get an evaluation, but mostly so I could find out other disorders I might have.
Anyway, I got the diagnosis. She of course spun it like she’d been sure it was going to happen the whole time. She made sure to assure me that no one could tell, and again how extremely high-functioning I was. She’s still afraid to say autistic, and will jump through hoops to avoid saying the word.
It’s so frustrating to me just how stigmatized autism is, even in the mental health field. Professionals fail to understand the spectrum part of autism.
#actually autistic#autism#autistic#asd#neurodivergent#autism spectrum#neurodiversity#autistic things#low support needs#neurodivergence#therapy#therapists
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S5 Mike Wheeler concept (and a couple of Wills)
-that was literally born because of this story I saw a few weeks ago 💀
#byler#mike wheeler#will byers#stranger things#artovna#the second image is from bujomoss' art sesh hence to low res#have i fulfilled my need to draw mike caring for and supporting will? maybe#byler fanart
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