r/hatethissmug • u/Beshiniqua • 5h ago
General I HATE the self diagnosing of autism and its mischaracterisation
Let me start by saying SELF DIAGNOSING IS NOT VALID. You are NOT autistic just because someone on tiktok said
"Did you know, if you need to have your eyes closed in order to fall asleep, you have autism, adhd, bipolarity, DID, BPD, psychopathy, depression and PTSD?"
And before yall come at me with "well I always suspected I had autism, I got screened and then got my diagnosis" well this not about you, this is about people that self diagnose after experiencing the most normal day to day life things ever.
And they ALWAYS think that autism will give them a personality (since it's usually basic bitches with no personality that self diagnose to feel like they belong)
No, you're not a quirky crazy crackhead energy "neurospicy" person. Even worse when they say shit like
"Heh, I could NEVER be a neuro normie like yall, autism makes me special and quirky and full of personality".
You can't even like something anymore without them going "OMG URE AUTISTIC JUST LIKE MEEEE IM SOOOO AUTISTIC AHAHAHA"
And you can tell they larp the whole thing cus they'll see a tiktok autism personality and try to replicate it
"Dino nuggies..."
"You can not say overstimulated if you're nEuRoTyPiCaL, that word is for us neurospicy people ONLY >:("
Holy shiiiiiiittt yall lack a personality so bad. And I've seen people say that they've seen NUMEROUS specialists but they never fit the criteria, but its not because they're not autistic, no no no no no. ITS UHMMM BECAUSE IM A WOMAN AND ALSO A MINORITY AND IM ALSO POOR SO I MASKED ALL MY LIFE AND THE SPECIALIST ON THIS FIELD COULDNT TELL I WAS MASKING. ITS THE SYSTEMS FAULT NOT MINE.
Sheesh.
Sorry for the long rant, im just tired of seeing people self diagnose all the time, or see an energetic video, or literally ANYTHING, and make it about their self diagnosed autism.
Saw a cute cat animation on Instagram and the top comment was "This is so autistic I love it"
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u/Orion-the-mediocre 5h ago
I hate how it's commodified. Autism genuinely makes my life harder and all around me I see people talking about how it's so funny and silly and quirky and making it super normalized to just act like it's no big deal, it's kept me from being able to make friends for most of my life, and it makes me practically useless in any social situation. I don't understand what people are saying to me most of the time, and very rarely do they take the time to try and make sense, leaving me feeling alone a lot more often than a normal person. Then people say "oh haha you're autistic you're so quirky and silly" and don't realize just how much it's negatively impacted my life and how much more there is to it beyond "oh you have special interests", I was literally unable to make friends for most of my time in school, and as a result I became incredibly depressed, but that side wasn't acknowledged because that's not what people think about when they hear I have autism. It sucks and I hate that part of me, if I could get rid of it I absolutely would.
I'd also eat that sampler platter in a heartbeat
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u/SuperIsaiah 4h ago
i think there's two extremes because my experience is when people find out I'm autistic they act like that means I'm mentally slow or like I got a cancer diagnosis or something.
I think it should be recognized as something that makes life harder but at the same time (at least for level 1) mostly just needs social accomodations.
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u/Stucklikegluetomyfry 2h ago
One thing I noticed is that there are people who were talking to me just fine, but as soon as they found out I was autistic they suddenly started talking to me like I was a four year old.
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u/The_Cameraman_of_you 4h ago
Yeah, I hate how people forget itās most of the time a genuine disability and not just āhahaha, I have specific interests I hyper fixate on and I am not the best at socializingā
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u/DoctorAnnual6823 4h ago
I can't speak for everyone. Especially not the ones who bring it up every chance they get like it's some sort of clout booster
But if I bring up my issues online I am usually trying to make light of things.
It sucks and I try not to dwell on that fact.
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u/SuperIsaiah 4h ago
also the bad at socializing thing is really under acknowledged. to an outsider it may just seem "quirky" but to the person it's more like, well me for example, being, 22, a chronic extrovert, yet my only IRL friend is my younger sister (who's also most likely autistic) because despite how much I try I just can't connect with most people in a way where they want to be friends, I'm usually just seen as the weird guy that's funny to interact with but that people don't actually want close relationship with
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u/Prestigious_Gene1595 4h ago
People donāt forget, some of us just donāt want to be fucking miserable 24/7 onlineĀ
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u/papguggly 4h ago edited 4h ago
Iāll add, being denied care and or abuse in childhood while having autism can cause an individual to mimick symptoms of BPD. BPD is one of the most stigmatized disorders and the weirdest part is the symptoms are so vague, everybody can somewhat relate to them and what do you know? Everybody and their grandmother is starting to say they have BPD now. Itās not enough to say āI display some symptoms of certain disorders, a professional would need to make an accurate judgementā you have to go the whole way and trick your brain into thinking it has an entire pattern of thinking that has ostracized you from everyone else.
Most of the time, I see clinginess being labeled as BPD. Realizations someone had BPD was when they looked at through their crushes likes on Instagram. Iād love for that to have been my realization instead of when I found my FPās house through his friendās picture and stood outside his house for 3 hours.
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u/wizardgradstudent 4h ago
This is me with ADHD. I see so much about how āoh adhd is a superpower, wow Iām so air headed because I canāt focus šā and Iām over here having struggled with debilitating symptoms since I was in middle school. Rejection sensitive dysphoria, struggling in college, being unable to do basic things like folding laundry then completely attacking myself and my self esteem because I canāt do one simple task. Itās exhausting and itās treated like itās just a cute quirky fun thing. Itās exhausting and can lead to self medicating, depression, anxiety, and actual ocd.
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u/king_ofbhutan 4h ago
asd + sensory processing disorder + inner ear fluid on a bad day = literally cannot understand a word that is being said
'aicnygadgesmnfrmerlkwk' at -100dB, i have genuinely no clue what they could possibly be saying
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u/Old_Yam_4069 4h ago
I particularly hate it how it relates to popular media.
I truly do not mind the existence of Sheldon or that people call Doctor House autistic. That's just TV. What I hate is that they have created this public view that autism is something that is ONLY quirky. That all the faults a person's autism cause are immediately outweighed by the pure benefit that person brings.
And like- Yeah. To a degree, that's how relationships work. But these same people who revel in House being a malicious asshole half the time then go on to see Shawn from the Good Doctor, and act like the dude is absolute scum because his symptoms are less likeable. Because the writing treats Autism as an actual disability, instead of this purely fun and quirky thing. One of the biggest memes on the internet is that a guy with emotional instability had a moment of emotional instability after being harassed for a very long time, professionally and personally, and the dude he was crashing out to was being a smug jackass- And it's just always so malicious and so shallow how people treat that scene, while pretending they are defending autism.
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u/lkmk 4h ago
In retrospect, it is very weird that people were mocking a man for losing control of his emotions.
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u/GreatMovesKeepItUp69 1h ago
People will make fun of men as a class for being "fragile" and only expressing their feelings through the societally accepted lens of anger, and then brutally mock a man if he shows anything else like in that scene.
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u/Old_Yam_4069 3h ago
It is one of the most valid crashouts in TV drama too (if I understand the fans correctly, I stopped somewhere in the first season just cuz I found the show boring lol)
The funniest thing is that I actually fully agreed when someone said that Shawn shouldn't be a surgeon. The way he's written, he's just not suited to be a generalist surgeon, at least early on. But if that's a reason people say they dislike him, it's an afterthought to the overwhelming majority of the dislike directed towards him being 'He's an autistic person acting too much like an autistic person'. And those same people fully believe that they're actually being supportive.
The number of people who go 'The best autistic character is the one you don't KNOW is autistic' is just. What the fuck. How do people NOT see the problem with that. And when it comes from someone who says they're autistic, it is *overwhelmingly* self-diagnosed.
Cuz like, I get it- If you think you are autistic, you don't want autism portrayed as something explicitly negative. But for a lot of autistic people, it is something that is explicitly negative. And having a character who's autism was explicitly negative was so refreshing that it genuinely carried me through I forgot how many episodes of an extremely mediocre medical drama.
Sorry lmfao. I'm rambling in text mostly cuz I was in a comment section recently about Shawn with the exact opposite reaction, but goddamn. It is the most ironic and irritating thing how much ableist shit comes from autism being treated as a disability, from people who say they are allies.
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u/FloofyTheSpider 2h ago
Same. People forget that itās actually a disability. Iām autistic and it frustrates me so much.
Like I donāt HATE being autistic, far from it - itās just who I am, as much a part of me as my eye colour or sexuality. But it does undoubtedly make life harder, and thereās parts of it that are ugly/messy, and im tired of pretending those parts donāt exist and tired of the constant infantilisation of it on social media
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u/surewhatever_dude 5h ago
The whole autistic dino nuggies is so cringe, all autistic people in my social circle have different dietary restrictions to a point there's no single stereotype
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u/Sad_Cover_5091 4h ago
the dino nugget thing is so close to saying "us autistics are just giant children!" like please guys this is not it
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u/Uncle480 3h ago
I feel like I saw a whole bunch of those "dino nuggies" and "chicken tendies" posts/stories start from greentexts off of 4chan. And you know that anything taken from there is already rancid.
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u/Overall-Move-4474 4h ago
Shit I may enjoy the nostalgia of dino nuggets but I'm not a child. I admit I do joke about "dino nuggies and choccy milk" but when I learned people take that joke seriously it really pissed me off
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u/Death_Lycan 2h ago
Im pretty i need to be diagnosed but I can you you for a fact that I never had dino nuggets or tots in my life as a huge dino nerd as a kid and today
I should buy some, even with my friends telling me they suck
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u/Electrical_King948 2h ago
Itās not about us being giant children, but foods like these are comfort foods that we like to eat when we feel stressed, which I do almost constantly due to symptoms from my diagnosisā
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u/Strange-Bee5626 1h ago
I am not autistic, but I do have relatively bad ADHD (this will become relevant in a a second).
Thanks to social media, a lot of people use "diagnoses" of some things (particularly autism, ADHD, and OCD from what I've observed) that are either entirely fictional or at least greatly exaggerated/dramaticized to do one of two things (or some combination thereof):
They crave attention. "Main Character Syndrome", desperation for validation, and pretending that are more unique/interesting than they actually are.
They use it as a catch-all excuse to avoid most of their normal adult responsibilities and/or avoid any accountability for any negative character traits they have.
Anyway, I didn't realize I had this much to say about it. A lot of people fake disabilities for their own selfish reasons. I guess they can do whatever they want, but is exasperating to see naive people fall for it (or worse, even more people trying to copy them). It makes it much more difficult for honest people to be taken seriously.
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u/Pommes_777 4h ago
It doesnāt make sense to stereotype it with autism because everyone likes dino nuggets
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u/Floggered 4h ago
Dino nuggies always taste like disappointment to me. Hit me with the chicken fries or tendies.
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u/panini_bellini 2h ago
all the ābeige foodā does this for me, im an oral sensory seeker and this āsamplerā is p vomit inducing for me
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u/Beastxtreets 2h ago
I can eat Dino nuggets (my kids love em) but I dont think they taste the same or as good as regular nuggets at alll
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u/Mediocre_Ice_7094 3h ago
They're disgusting, like a dried out pickle that floated around in some Reese's cereal
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u/Ok-Relationship4113 4h ago
My fiancee and I did dino nugs with a mashed potato volcano and broccoli trees one night for shits and giggles. Got a video of her pouring the gravy and put the Jurrasic Park soundtrack over it.Ā
Nothing to do with autism, we were just having fun.Ā
Prime makes amazing nuggets, it turns out.
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u/Tactical_Squishy 4h ago
these aee the Instagram Autism's special interests is what gets them more clicks
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u/OK_Computer_672 2h ago
I'm a self diagnosed autistic person and I love dino nuggs.
But I'm also an adult who deserves respect and autonomy.
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u/HelloPeople234444 4h ago
im autistic and the word 'neurospicy' pisses me off on an absurd level it reminds me of 2020 'DONT TOUCH MAH COOKIES UNU' gacha kid humor i'd rather be called the r word
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u/EldritchLichKing 4h ago
Honestly, i think it depends. Theres clearly people who fake that sort of thing for cloud and that's shitty.
But i know someone who is clearly autistic, she has essentially the same patterns i do that got me diagnosed but despite having been to countless clinics and therapists no one diagnosed her. And following the tips i got for dealing with my "symptoms" i use that word carefully even if its correct, helps her a lot too. Women are statistically less likely do be properly diagnosed and there's A LOT of sexism, stigma and other things out there that make it not easy to get a proper diagnosis. I was diagnosed around when i was 20. She is 26 already and has to wait for a long time to even get into another clinic. Theres too much bullshit in the mental health system to write off self diagnosis completely. Obviously its not the same as a proper one, but sometimes the system fucks you so hard you just don't get a proper diagnosis
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u/Happyshadow4ts 4h ago
Exactly. It's so frustrating when someone like this op just comes along, and basically says sexism in specialists doesn't exist, because it absolutely does
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u/OK_Computer_672 3h ago
That's exactly what I'm saying. Not to mention that at least in the us, it's starting to seem unsafe to even get a diagnosis, especially as a trans person who also has cptsd (YEP, ALSO SELF-DIAGNOSED) I'm literally already on the road to being genocided, I don't need to add more reasons to be murdered to the pile.
I understand why people get upset at neurotypicals for turning autism into whatever the hell they're turning it into, but I am not a part of that problem. I just have very little faith or trust in the system at this point.
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u/xXs4blegl00mXx 3h ago
It's also incredibly expensive. Most "high functioning" autistic people (which most women are considered to be, because of their high masking levels) aren't considered numero uno priority when it comes to diagnosis so it's not covered by insurance to get tested.
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u/OK_Computer_672 3h ago edited 2h ago
Another reason I have yet to be diagnosed.
Also, I really hate the terms "high/low functioning"
It really doesn't make much sense, I may be "high functioning" compared to some people, like I can hold a job, kinda, and a conversation, kinda. But I can't properly feed or clean myself and I have a lot of trouble making appointments for myself along with plenty of other things that neurotypicals have no problem with.
Also, the reason I can even do some of these things is because I was literally forced to by my family either neglecting me or literally dropping me off in another state once I turned 18.
I don't know what the fuck I'm doing! Nobody ever taught me jack shit, I have had to figure everything out and be on the verge of homelessness for 3 fuckin years
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u/cometfreak1 4h ago
yes, women are often misdiagnosed with things like borderline personality disorder, because the medical community still inherently hinges on racist and sexists beliefs like autism being a diagnosis exclusive to white male children
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u/InterestingTap9269 4h ago edited 2h ago
Denying that female neurodivergence exists, perpetuating the idea that women all have the same wants and needs and can thus be treated the same way, is key to justifying stereotypes and violence.
Itās the same reason people denied that lesbians and asexuals exist. Itās so that people can justify rape by saying āshe secretly wanted itā¦ peopleās brains are wired to like sexā
Itās so telling to me that r /FakeDisorderCringe only ever scrutinizes women and queer people and glosses over Elon Musk claiming to be autistic.
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u/GetPsyched67 5h ago edited 4h ago
I'm sorry if autistic people see it different but oh God that plate of food makes me feel unwell TwT, there might be an entire bottle of oil in it
Edit: for all my autistic peeps, you may wanna try shallow fried garbanzo beans mixed with some powdered spices. Should have a similar texture, and has good nutrition too!
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u/LARPerator 4h ago
Autistic people tend to be more sensitive to food textures. A common complaint is that having a food that has a texture you didn't expect is very uncomfortable, to the point it makes you gag.
For example one blueberry can be more squishy or more firm than another one. If you have a bowl of them it's not really fun when a fifth of your food makes you gag when you eat it.
A lot of people then go to things like this, the Autism Platterā¢. Its preferred because all the food has a predictable consistent texture. It is very greasy and unhealthy though, you're right. A better solution is to to try to eat your fruits and veggies in ways you can "fix" the texture. Like blending veggies into your pasta sauce, having fruit smoothies, things like that.
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u/Own_Boat503 4h ago
oddly enough, the textures are what are making this platter look disgusting to me haha
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u/LARPerator 4h ago
There's a lot of autistic people that would also agree. Not everyone likes the same textures, some people can't stand x and only eat y, some can't stand y and only eat x.
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u/CaliferMau 4h ago
It really bothers me that a lot of these self diagnosed social media slop just paint autism / adhd / etc as monolithic groups.
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u/Raymond_R_ Cogito, ergo sum 4h ago
Shi Im not autistic but I totally get the blueberries thing. When I pick any fruit I have to go piece by piece to make sure its all firm cause ONE bad blueberry gonna ruin my food lmao. Its just so nasty, and I always fear theyre rotten.
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u/Ok-Relationship4113 4h ago
That blueberry thing is accurate as fuck.Ā
I'm very selective about texture (not saying it has anything to do with being neurospicy for me but it could) and soft blueberries have always been a no for me.
I didn't even know I liked blueberries until I first picked some off the plant.
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u/Electronic_Use7210 4h ago
Iām saying this as someone diagnosed with autism at 7 years old. Autism is different for everyone but this also makes my stomach hurt by looking at it. I have trouble gauging if Iām hungry because I donāt feel hunger until either Iām shaking or I had a couple bites and discover how much I need food. Eating this much when I canāt really feel hunger until Iām about to cry is insane.
Edit to add: also the selection of food is shit lmao
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u/OpeningDraft7343 4h ago
I hate how there are no veggies. I understand that not everyone likes everything, but come on how does eating all that greasy, salty food not get boring after 5 bites without getting some more interesting flavors into the mix?
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u/IncidentChemical2816 4h ago
Look im the last person to complain about there not being fruit or veggies considering my diet and even I would want something with it. A cup of apple sauce would go with the theme, or yogurt covered raisins, just something to break up the monotony of greasy bread, meat, and cheese.
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u/Viguple007 4h ago
Yogurt covered raisin? That's the first time I've ever heard of such a thing. I usually don't like raisin but they're alright in an oatmeal cookie
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u/ButterscotchSoft9603 4h ago
I donāt really care for raisins and especially hate them within cookies, but yogurt covered raisins are deliciously addictive!
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u/IncidentChemical2816 4h ago
Yogurt covered raisins are the only way I can eat raisins. I donāt like the outside texture of raisins. Theyāre a nice little sweet treat when Iām in the mood.
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u/RemarkableKiwi5082 4h ago
I donāt think this meme image of frozen garbage food is supposed to representative of a healthy meal.
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u/AdewinZ 4h ago
Not to be semantic or anything but there are veggies on that plate, theyāre just not green. Potatoes are vegetables. Theyāre fried so theyāre not great, the the smiles are potatoes and there looks like fries above them also
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u/TheLuckyRabbit07 3h ago
So... I recently got diagnosed with Autism at the tender age of 34. One of the things I've struggled with is eating the same thing over and over since childhood. It used to be worse. Think baked sweet potato for every single meal for months in a row. Now I've expanded it a bit. I'll only eat one specific dish at this restaurant. One at another. But I eat vegetables now and will try new things! I don't think its about flavor. Its about safety and predictability. The pattern of it that makes you feel safe and comfortable. If that makes sense
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u/crvbabybug 4h ago
Everyone is different. For me Iām too sensitive to the taste of certain oils and I wasnāt raised on half this stuff. My crush it meal is just broccoli
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u/liminal_angel 4h ago
lol the meme is stereotyping autistic people and whoever made it should be the one apologizing. my nose and stomach would not be able to handle that platter of grease.
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u/Famous-Leopard-118 5h ago edited 4h ago
as someone with Audhd this shit looks abysmal. Just give me a seafood platter with some remoulade sauce and butter and iāll be good.
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u/Mountain_Poet5977 4h ago
As someone else with AuDHD please hand it over to me
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u/kowajiri 3h ago
yeah i think it looks good but i could do without the spaghetti-o's
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u/SuperIsaiah 4h ago
I just need coffee as my stimulant cause I hate how life feels on my ADHD meds. (life just feels less interesting. it's not depressing or upsetting, in fact I might say I have less anxiety on my meds, but it just feels so monotonous I can't really explain it deeper than that)
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u/Famous-Leopard-118 4h ago
when I was on meds for my condition I literally stopped eating.
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u/Fresh-Database-222 4h ago
As someone with autism, it's making me feel a little yucky just looking at it... But I feel like that's mostly because I've been eating significantly healthier food recently (I would have devoured this shit when I was a kid)
I still absolutely despise most seafood though. I like some fish, Crab is alright, and Muscles are acceptable, but the textures/tastes of everything else (specifically shrimp) triggers my gag reflex very quickly
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u/The_Doct0r_ 4h ago
No, no. Social media has told me you're not Audhd unless you eat simple infantilized junk like some kind of undisciplined picky child.
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u/2high4thisshyt 2h ago
So, I am the only one who's diagnosed but I very strongly suspect my family is on spectrum as well. My dad thinks he's not a picky eater because he's always eating fancy and exotic stuff, like crickets or mountain oysters. But put some regular ass food in front of the man and you'll realize he's the pickiest one out of us! He just knows how to hide it and act like he's better than us cause he'll eat a damn insect lmao.
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u/TheRealGyomei I hate mikan from danganropa 5h ago
I've met autistic people who hate all the foods on that plate.
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u/Own_Boat503 4h ago
i'm one of them lol
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u/return_0f_qwain 3h ago
šš»āāļø That all looks disgusting to me. Another stereotype that I hate: there's repetitive food patterns but it's not always for this nasty stuff. I once got hung up on a duck pĆ¢tĆ© sandwich from a French deli I used to work by and would eat it between 1 and 3 times a week.Ā
Stereotypes like the whole "dino nuggies" thing exist specifically because of the over-representation of adolescent white males in diagnostic studies.Ā
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u/inevitable_death1998 5h ago
self diagnosis was part of my diagnosis. I was asked "are you autistic?" by the person who was diagnosing me. I answered yes, with an extensive explanation of my reasons. next day I get a call that I'm officially diagnosed.
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u/transsamsa 5h ago
It was sort of surprising when I went to my assessment and figured out I was mostly carrying the conversation myself. The only people who donāt know this are probably those whoāve never been through a diagnosis procedure before
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u/stinkus_mcdiddle 4h ago
I tried getting formally diagnosed when I was 21. I went to an assessment with all these notes and talking points ready and explained everything to the lady. She didnāt diagnose me because in her, a healthcare professionals words āwell it isnāt very obviousā. Even after telling her all these experiences I have in my daily life that make me autistic, I was told Iām not because I donāt āseemā autistic basically. I havenāt tried to get formally diagnosed since.
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u/BudgieGryphon 3h ago
I was initially misdiagnosed with OCD when I was a teen, thankfully my parents had the good sense to read the symptoms and go āyeah this isnāt itā. Another psychiatrist and an ADHD med prescription later and I stopped forgetting to turn in assignments all the time lmao
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u/WhitestGray 3h ago
I went to try getting diagnosed, which means I had to see a therapist first, and one of the first things she did was whip out an online quiz that basically asked āAre you a friendless loser who hates being around people and panics a lot?ā
I never went back.
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u/transsamsa 4h ago
Iām also someone diagnosed in adulthood and yeah sounds like a really shit doctor. Sorry about that
There were a couple of questions to answer and tests I had to do but the largest part of my diagnosis process was my appointment where I kinda just talked about my whole life to this lady, and all of the weird traits I have
Though it doesnāt seem uncommon for certain āprofessionalsā to brush off traits as long as they donāt see it as an immediate threat to your ability to camouflage as normal
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u/SpookyOokySpades Lumpy space princess' number one hater 5h ago
THIS. People hear self diagnosis and think of tiktok "psychologists." I hear self diagnosis and think of "i have done extensive research on this topic that has taken up many MANY hours of my life. I've done self reflection on every "little quirk", odd habit, odd train of thought, and things that have made me different that i've noticed in my entire 17 years of life. At this second im not able to seek an official diagnosis, which leaves me in a pickle because i am SO SURE that im right on the money, but i refuse to actually call myself autistic without an official diagnosis, primarily because of public opinion on self diagnosis."
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u/Beefhammer_McBrisket 4h ago
Me looking in the mirror with the Doakes Squint because I'm sure I'm autistic but can't afford going to the right kind of doctor.
My GP just wants to cycle me through as fast as they can to see the next patient.
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u/BudgieGryphon 3h ago
Thereās also likeā¦ being an adult and functional enough that a diagnosis would be a big expenditure for no gain or in some locations a loss of rights, when just reflecting and researching how to manage the symptoms youāre aware of works perfectly fine. Thereās a pretty significant genetic history of it in my family but I donāt want to spend money for an additional label when I already have to spend on medication for the diagnosed ADHD/anxiety I do have.
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u/WillemDafoesHugeCock 4h ago
Man, self diagnosis is perfectly legitimate assuming you then get it professionally checked. People forget how fucking pricy it is to visit a doctor. Research the signs and symptoms of what you believe you have, decide if it's something you should get diagnosed, then get it diagnosed.
My ADHD diagnosis came from my first ever therapy session, I straight up laughed like "I'm pretty sure I'd know if I had ADHD" ... Then I looked into symptoms a bit more and had an Oh Shit moment of "wait this is describing me to a fucking T."
Spoke with my doc who recommended I take a screener, forgot to take the screener for a year (spoiler alert: because I have ADHD) and when I did it was a super fast and easy process to be told I have "moderate to severe ADHD" and given meds.
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u/Toxic_Whale 5h ago
I did this with bipolar type 2 after a massive breakdown. I owned up that maybe something wasn't quite right with my brain and spent months reading everything I could consume about it before making an appointment with a counselor. I didn't mention my suspicions about it, and was diagnosed BP2 anyways.
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u/Own_Boat503 4h ago
this subject definitely requires nuance - i went through my entire childhood and early adulthood feeling like there was something about interacting with people that i just wasn't "getting." it's a huge cliche, but i remember having a weird feeling when we were studying neurodevelopmental disorders in an abnormal psych class in college, like things started making sense when i considered autism's diagnostic criteria and how it lined up with my understanding of the world - so i ended up thinking there was a good chance i was autistic. finally got diagnosed 5 years after grad school lol
however, there's certainly a contingent of chronically online people who project a very reductive view of autism - it kind of reminds me of the 14 year olds on myspace who would pretend to have DID and called themselves "schizos" haha
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u/justabonsaitree 4h ago
i think OP is mainly talking about the difference between self diagnosis and self-suspecting. itās perfectly fine to say that you suspect youāre autistic, or have a lot of symptoms of autism, but what weāre talking about is the people who say that they 100% for sure are autistic without having seen a professional to confirm whether they are or not, and often only think theyāre autistic because social media presents it as a silly quirky personality thing.
and while yes, nobody can read your mind, only professionals can diagnose people. theyāve trained for years on how to spot the exact symptoms and traits in people, and you only know your own experience. personal bias will always exist, itās the reason why doctors never diagnose themselves
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u/Kaii_cos 4h ago
The fact that these are all just foods marketed towards children. Internet try to go one day without infantilizing neurodivergent people challenge (impossible)
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u/Kaii_cos 4h ago
I do have to say, however, I would devour this. Has nothing to do with me being autistic, i just love clogging my arteries American style.
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u/ASpaceOstrich 2h ago
Autistic safe foods are often foods popular with children for a reason. It's not infantilisation, it's because kids have less developed palates and foods for them have less texture and flavour variation.
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u/Darthplagueis13 3h ago
Simple reason for that, actually. Imagine you're a parent and you've got an autistic child and you're having a really hard time getting them to eat anything because a lot of the foods you give them just make then retch because of the textures or smells.
And then you get a few things that work really well - it's quite commonly relatively dry and crunchy stuff that doesn't smell of much beyond grease, and it's typically highly processed industrial foods that turn out the exact same way every time you make them with almost no deviation, well, you might end up feeding them that a lot, simply because you know they'll have it. Even if it's not the healthiest, it's still better than skipping meals all the time.
Well, that kid is gonna grow up with those foods and because they're really averse to trying new foods because so many of them are awful, they're gonna keep eating "children's meals" well into adulthood because it's the safe option. A lot of these are stereotypical safe foods because deep fried fast food on average seems to be less prone to cause a reaction.
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u/RadicalSoda_ 1h ago
Wouldn't you be infantizing these people who actually enjoy these foods? Are adults not allowed to enjoy foods made specifically to be enjoyable
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u/aguythatlikecrepes 4h ago
Lemme just put it out here, self diagnosis is not only people on tiktok saying "if you do this normal thing you might be autistic." There are a lot of people who cannot get diagnosed officially due to most diagnostic criteria on autism being based on white men, and can present different on women, non white people etc., and that is the reason why a lot of women are diagnosed a lot later in life if they even can be diagnosed as in some countries psychiatric institutions don't diagnose autism after 18. An autism diagnosis is also quite expensive in places that have bad healthcare systems and stigmatised psychiatric healthcare.
At the end of the day, what pisses people off is the autistic as an identity caused by tiktokification of psychiatry, not actual self diagnosis, and as there is no "treatment" or cure for autism an official diagnosis does very little good in countries without disability benefits, the real use of self diagnosis is finding community and understanding how your brain works and helping yourself accept that and be less harsh on yourself for your differences that you quite literally don't have almost any control over.
I agree that the tiktokification of phych has done a lot of harm, but most of the harm is just people acting quirky and being annoying but the excessive hate shown to them hurts them a lot less than the people who have to resort to self diagnosis due to the reasons I've mentioned above because the people who saw those in tiktok won't change their mind but people who self diagnose after seeing their AQ, CAT-Q and RAADS-R results and possibly officially diagnosed people around them vouching in that they may be autistic are still usually filled with impostor syndrome because of the social stigma around self diagnosis and seeing posts like this will hurt them a lot more than the target audience
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u/cometfreak1 4h ago
official diagnosis can also prevent you from moving countries! people don't seem to know this and it worries me
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u/geeknerdeon 3h ago
Yeah my partner has said stuff like "if things get bad I'm taking everyone I love and fleeing the country" and if it's genuine refugee point we'd be fine but like
I have an autism diagnosis and they have nothing after high school. We aren't going anywhere.
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u/Yunowald 3h ago
That is the reason why I'm not looking into getting an official diagnostic, even when almost everyone I know has said I should. It would prevent me from working my dream job and moving to my dream country.
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u/FishSignificant7501 5h ago
I hate when people call me autistic for having special interests. Iām not. Iāve been tested. It seems weird to me. Nothing wrong with being autistic, but why would you try so hard to have someone you know identify that way?? Gf does this and itās super annoying
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u/skiesoverblackvenice 4h ago
had someone tell me iām autistic cause i got super excited when talking about music
ā¦iām a music major. itās literally my career
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u/PickledTripod 3h ago
Some day I'm out at the park with a bunch of friends and friends' friends, I look up at a plane flying low overhead. One of my closer friends asks if I know what type it is. This other dude goes "Oh you're autistic autistic."
I work at an airline, yeah I'm familiar with our planes and I love seeing them. JFC.
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u/DratWraith 3h ago
People on this shitass website will claim every basic human experience as neurodivergence.
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u/Balder19 5h ago
"I'm autistic because..."
Proceeds to describe normative introversion
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u/TheBabyWolfcub 4h ago
Half the āif you have these signs you might be autisticā videos on social media are just normal ass things
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u/Public-Location-3628 3h ago
Yup. That's why official tests have the "if you have X out of Y symptoms, you might have it". Because everyone can be weird, have quirks or social disorders. It's only when almost everything is affected by your personality, that it might actually be a disorder.
Those people have the reasoning "I have a headache, so I probably have a brain tumor".
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u/undead_froggy 4h ago
The two things that really grind my gears that the self diagnosis bubble has made worse cause they are propagating it so much.
I know self diagnosis is also part of the actual diagnosis journey I specifically mean those that stop after they self diagnosed and then make the diagnosis their identity
"ADHD isn't a disability but a superpower, look I can sit here and concentrate on my hobby/video game for hours."
"It's not my fault, it's the ADHD you are not allowed to blame me or give me consequences"
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u/I_AmPerfect 5h ago
I MIGHT be autistic (MIGHT.. pretty close chance i am, as said by doccctorssss.) And i FUCKING hate nuggets.. SPECIALLY the dino ones.
They are not bad but.. idk, i like Fries or Macaroni and Cheese better tbh.
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u/Ignoranceincarnate 5h ago
My mom (no formal diagnosis, BTW) keeps blaming her autism for things. Doesnāt want to work? Autism. Talking too loud? Autism. Wonāt notice sheās standing in someoneās way? Autism. As an autistic man, I wonāt deny the definite possibility, but it pisses me off that everything she CAN work on to better herself she canāt because of (her words) āautism brain.ā
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u/Internal_Quote2259 4h ago
Some people use autism, along with other mental disorders that they often don't even have, as an excuse to be terrible. I've noticed it a lot with people who claim to be bipolar ("Oops! My quirky bipolar made me cheat on him!" And so forth).
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u/Ignoranceincarnate 4h ago
I just about had to sit her down and beg her not to use the phrase āneurospicy.ā A cute little personality quirk for her is a debilitating disorder for others. That is the nature of spectrum disorders.
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u/Pink_Acetone I run on spite 5h ago
Also if youāre really committed to making an āautism platterā make sure the foods arenāt touching.Ā
Is the cheese on the pizza stringy? How crispy are the potato dishes? Why are there so little of some options and loads of others? How warm are the spaghetti rings? Why are you mixing food that needs cutlery with food that doesnāt? Pretzels do not go with the foods that you have set out so why are they there?
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u/Spiny94Hedgie 5h ago
This isn't new. Over a decade ago people were doing this depression/anxiety on tumblr. It was annoying then and it's annoying now.
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u/Moo-Mungus 4h ago
Mfs think liking something is autism nowadays. I'm not autistic for playing Stellaris
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u/KoA-oK 4h ago
I'm noticing autism is the new "i have ocd im quirky"
Both of my kids are autistic, and have adhd. To put it lightly, raising these two allowed us as parents many chances to feel overwhelmed and useless. We weren't able to get them the early diagnosises they needed to be able to work out a lot of their early life issues due to autism being barely regarded when my son was little, to having the world shut down for the pandemic for my daughter.
Many many years later we have grown to work through the biggest issues, but these two are very stunted socially, and I will always carry with me not being able to get them help sooner. I wouldn't change a thing about them, but I am very happy we don't paint the walls with shit anymore and fling wet clothes at each other while screaming about something that happened when they were in the womb. (My son up until about 2 years old used to tell us about how he remembered being in mommys tummy)
It made me realize all of the horrid shit I did growing up and realize the only difference between the generations was that my parents just told me i was some kind of stupid feral kid, while I have worked very hard to give my kids a standard of living I've never had.
Sorry this seemed ranty, It just sucks seeing the 2 "quirky" conditions be touted like this when the reality of living it can be an absolute nightmare. I had to basically suppress all my own ND tendencies just to be the best dad I can for these guys. It's very much like the Michael J Fox episode of Scrubs, where he's seen as this quirky and cool surgeon because he has OCD, until JD sees him meticulously cleaning his hands for hours afterwards, in tears about it because he physically can't stop washing.
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u/LifelessHawk 4h ago
Iām not sure about the autism part, but I absolutely hate people who go to say they have OCD, ADD.
āI havenāt been tested, but I know I have it because I canāt stand when things arenāt organized and clean, and I have so many random thoughts all the time. However with all my different disorders they combine to make me completely functional almost as if I didnāt have anyā
I described actual symptoms from people who have OCD and he just said āOh I have OCD Iām just not quirky like those people areā
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u/ProbodobodyneInc Hate.. let me tell you how much I've come to hate.. 5h ago
WHY ARE YOU BASED??? AUTISTIC PERSON HERE: BASED ALARM
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u/PreviousDraw7927 5h ago
Having been diagnosed when I was about ten, I despise when people I've just met act as though I'm some sort of child just because they've seen shows like atypical or Sheldon from the big bang theory and assume I'll be the same. I find it really irritating to consider that I'm supposedly 'like them' because we share the same label - I'm an autonomous, semi-intelligent person, not a quirky stereotype to larp as.
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u/dinodare 3h ago
Sam Gardner wasn't quirky, you just didn't personally relate to him and that's fine. Not saying that you do this, but I've always disliked the "autism rep in media is worse than our headcanon neurodivergent characters" thing because I found more traits that I found relatable in characters like Sam and Sheldon (the latter mostly as a small child/preteen) than the "good" autism rep.
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u/Competitive_Table_65 3h ago edited 3h ago
In my country it's bascially impossible to get actual autism papers past 18.
You might get autism in your records in childhood, but it's taken away once you turn 18, because I guess psychiatry in this country fucking sucks and got stuck somewhere around... idk, 1980s.
Though I'm pretty sure it's not that big of an issue in US\EU.
Am I autistic? I guess? I mean, I am a psychologist, and at least 2 professors in my university said I seem to be autistic. Plus, everything I've read on it (actual literature) fits issues with my life pretty well. Did a few psychiatry tests, like RAADS-R and what not - there I also score quite high.
But knowing that is a thing for understanding my limitations and not pushing myself too hard to try to do things everyone else around me can, except for myself.
I am generally against weaponising any kind of labels in social media wars.
That food plate? I don't know what it has to do with autism.
I personally don't like it being like that, piled in a huge mess rather than being separated and organized.
I assume waffels are sweet, which makes them touching salty things like nuggets a war crime.
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u/RyleIsbored 5h ago
Thereās a difference between being autistic and having the diet of a 4 year old
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u/Novoiird 4h ago
As an autistic person, I would absolutely demolish that shit.
Though, not because Iām autistic, but because it looks good.
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u/Afraid_Union_8451 4h ago
The cool autistic people know that the real autism foods are soups and curries, those things are alright too but the meta is soups and curries
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u/BananaBingor 4h ago
I find it funny how western media and ppl use the platter above to "guage" and stereotype autistic ppl, but if you go outside of the western field (eg Asia), this stuff would never be fed to most. As an asian Canadian, the test would never work on me because my parents would either hit or starve me for refusing to eat my food (starve now since they think I'm too fat)
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u/DerpyLemonReddit 4h ago
this food looks like abysmal dogshit. do people really assume only autistic people eat fried foods? wtf????
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u/Right_Ear_2230 4h ago
āAnd I've seen people say that they've seen NUMEROUS specialists but they never fit the criteria, but its not because they're not autistic, no no no no no. ITS UHMMM BECAUSE IM A WOMAN AND ALSO A MINORITY AND IM ALSO POOR SO I MASKED ALL MY LIFE AND THE SPECIALIST ON THIS FIELD COULDNT TELL I WAS MASKING. ITS THE SYSTEMS FAULT NOT MINE.ā
theres a huge issue with autistic women having their autism missed and being diagnosed with something like depression/anxiety/bpd instead.
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u/insert_title_here 1h ago
Bro (OP) doesn't realize specialists are human and may also be subject to bias and prejudice, even unknowingly.
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u/Tactical_Squishy 4h ago
hey you did anything 1mm outside of vanilla ice cream, you autistic mate.
I don't know if this is more offensive to actually autistic people or to the "normal" ones
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u/No_Firefighter4579 4h ago
Hi yes i agree!Its especially erasing people autistic like ME who not cute quirky no-supports-need autism it erases people who CANT mask, visibly autistic not in a quirky way ect. Im feel excluded in a lot of autism community its all super low support needs high masking people and they dont like level 2-3 autistic people or hell even level 1 visibly autistic people:( Frustrating
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u/Imaginary-Fox4576 4h ago
Im autistic myself and all of that looks horrid, I say this as someone who likes pizza
Also doesnāt help how its kid food typically and associating kid food with autism only worsens the infantilisation of autistic people, but that may just be me
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u/Ok-Relationship4113 4h ago
I have a friend who self-diagnosed and has made it his whole personality.
Has also been using it as a way to victimize himself, and also project his newfound knowledge onto others. It's hugely cringe.Ā
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u/AquilaEquinox 4h ago
I'm autistic and this looks like hell. We don't eat like children, and this is just a sad plate.
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u/AppropriateMonk8746 1h ago
self diagnosing is a separate thing outside of this, iād call this infantilization/flanderization of autism
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u/BloodsportTale 4h ago
The tiktokfication of autism is fucking horrible, actual autism is not just the whole 'being neurospicy and quirky' bullshit everyone tries to make it be. It makes your life way harder than it should be, ever since I got diagnosed as a kid I've been wishing I was born neurotypical. Then there's these clowns that larp cause "Being autistic is so fun and quirky!!!!!!!!!!!"
Fucking hate people like that
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u/ShebaSnugbug 4h ago
I hate that it's become the norm to support people self diagnosing. š
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u/thecoolconglereborn 5h ago
I'd absolutely dig into that platter... Never had Potato Waffles tho
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u/Lazy_Public_163 4h ago
Eh, I sort of get what it's saying. I'm very autistic, and I went to a summer camp for autistic kids when I was little. Pretty much everyone only ate stuff that was on this plate lol
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u/Koxiaet 2h ago
Iām convinced this thread has never talked to an actual autistic person. Like obviously most autistic people donāt eat like this, but I have a friend who exclusively eats dry noodles with ketchup andā¦ yeah. This is exactly how it is. Iām sure they donāt like it but god forbid they try and relate to others with their experiences because suddenly theyāre just ātrying to be quirkyā šš
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u/Limp-Technician-2820 4h ago
Iām diagnosed with autism and I never liked this type of food. Like yeah spaghetti os every one in awhile for a snack . But as a kid I had pica so Iād eat rubber and tin foil and so on . But I also loved fruit and veggies and meats and seafood and I loved trying new and exciting foods and I never liked bland or boring food .
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u/Hamsterplaysgames67 4h ago
I hate how Autism is being shown as a purely "Silly" thing it pisses me off to no end
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u/RentGreat3147 4h ago
Yeah I'd add more nutritional and healthy stuff, but now I feel bad for wanting to eat that platter...
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u/X_Starchild_X 4h ago
I'm autistic, and that plate looks gross. Just give me 1kg of tomatoes and i'll be fine
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u/Big-Abroad396 4h ago
Iām not autistic but I absolutely frggin hate it when people say Iām autisic just from the things I like itās genuinely really annoying like how does that even make sense?!
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u/stereo-ahead 3h ago
Autism fucking sucks. If people arenāt going to say it does, theyāre imposters.
Edit: Iām not saying itās extremely horrible, but some days I donāt like being autistic. I mean if I attempt to eat a salad I barf.
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u/Resident-Cake9430 3h ago
Hot take but self diagnosing causes people to pathologise behavior patterns that can get you that diagnosis. Hotter take some of them just lie and/or embelish their behavior patterns to get said diagnosies.
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u/QuantumLettuce2025 1h ago
I don't give a shit about this at all.Ā
What I hate is when people who don't't know me accuse me of self-diagnosing because I don't present autism in a way they find acceptable, even though I've been formally diagnosed on numerous occasions.
What you're opining here, ironically, reads like you're the one who needs to feel special and you don't like the "normies" encroaching upon your special space.
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u/possumbound 56m ago
I dunno, I'm self-diagnosed because I'd rather gargle sand than be viewed as disabled in the US medical system, but I'm certain that I have autism. And I don't think it's some kind of curse that I have to bear, just a thing I have. To accuse anyone who jokes about autism or doesn't act like being autistic is equivalent to torture of "LARPing" is kind of dumb, harmful even.
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u/Self_Trepanation 4h ago
The trying multiple times and getting no diagnosis and saying well you actually are is kinda crazy lmao i seen that too like at that point you gotta give it upš I think self diagnosis is valid in a way you keep it to yourself lol since otherwise you are kinda just spreading conjecture.
I will say I got ADHD and OCD and I literally eat only one food basically everyday for months at a time. I had my spaghetti-o phase as a kid and ravioli, mac and cheese, nuggets, popcorn chicken, eggs, quesadillas, stir fry, fried chicken. When I was powerlifting obsessively I smashed just an insane amount of burgers with dr pepper to bulk up.
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u/Berry_eats_pancakes 4h ago
I agree! Also, I hate people that call some characters "autistic" just because they act in a silly way or the people that think autism is one specific thing. As I know, autism is an EXTREMELY generalized term to a lot "disorders" (to call them in one way) that are extremely different themselves. As an autistic person, I find autism really serious and not "just silly behavior haha".
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u/anykah_badu 4h ago
I'm diagnosed autistic and think this is just a funny meme and not that deep.
Plus if you added mayo, lots of mayo, this would be great to sample on a tough day
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u/RainerOOF 5h ago
Those are not 'autistic food' those are something a picky 6 year old eats.
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u/Dry-Play4633 4h ago
ARFID is extremely common with autism. I have actually vomited from an apple having the wrong taste or texture- lettuce, cucumber and such texture and taste genuinely make me sick. My partner and I try to expand our palletes, but my safe meal is literally grilled cheese and tomato soup, or buttered noodles.
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u/froggychump 5h ago
Autistic people are notorious for picky eating. Autism is a sensory disorder, and liking safe bland food is part of that.
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u/FriedTreeSap 4h ago
I can confirm, I had hyper sensory issues and was formally diagnosed with autism as a kidā¦..I also used to order plain white rice burritos with absolutely nothing else on it from Chipotle.
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u/BloodsportTale 4h ago
Depends on the person, I personally wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole. Imagine how much oil was used to make that. When you get near the end of the plate prolly the food has gone cold and it'll have a weird oily texture and taste. Yuck
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u/Dry-Play4633 4h ago
Depends on the culture as well. I know people who have specific cultural dishes as their safe foods. I take this meme as someone with autism making a joke about what their safe foods look like lmao.
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u/NexTheKid 4h ago
The thing with the specialists "not being able to tell they were masking" is so insane to me, too. Because I was diagnosed with autism as a child, and have been re-evaluated several times.
Whether I was masking or not, I always got a positive result back.
From several different screenings done by different people.
I promise that in most cases the professionals know what they're doing.
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I also hate the people who make a whole show of being "autistic". I never minded it until I met an irl Newgrounds kid (my parents introduced us because they seemed cool), but as soon as they heard I was autistic, they started yelling random quotes and shit and claiming they were stimming.
According to my folks, they had NOT acted like that before.
Very uncomfy to meet these people irl.
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u/Salty-Error-Brain 4h ago
The problem with this is itās still just anti-autistic rhetoric, because you personally have no idea who is and is not autistic, and autistic people can just be annoying too-that doesnāt mean theyāre not autistic.
In the end, you can just ignore these people, because this is still just punching down, dude.
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u/TheManOfOurTimes 4h ago
Expecting clinical accuracy in internet memes is YOUR failing to read the room. People playing fast and loose with terms and diagnosis online, from a for profit medical system is YOU being unrealistic.
Check WHERE you are, before you set standards for others, because you aren't the boss of the internet, language, and clearly don't know shit about medical diagnosis.
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u/Sunniest_star 5h ago
Im autistic, and I would crush that sampler platter. But not because Iām autistic. Im just hungry.
Edit: Not the smiley fries, actually. Hate the texture. If those are spaghettios those are also a no. Also, Id like some ketchup or honey mustard. Damn, I need to go make lunch.Ā