Autistic Stereotypes You're Sick Of Hearing?

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Language and empathy. My daughter spoke 4 words at 6 months, over 10 by one year old. She is the kindest and most caring and most loyal friend, the one who will go to no end of trouble for a friend in need, and many a sleepover has worked at our house that has failed elsewhere as my daughter busts her arse making sure they don't get homesick! It breaks my heart that nobody will be as loyal and kind in return.

"aspies are antisocial"

When I asked a counsellor what might happen to me at work if I got diagnosed and told them, she said "oh, you'll be fine, they'll have to put you in a room on your own somewhere." In other words, Aspies don't get lonely. Actually the management did nothing of the kind, it would have been expensive, so for once the greed of the ruling class worked in my favour.

The other one is the "Aspies have no empathy" yarn. If you define empathy as the ability to intuitively guess people's feelings, there might be some truth in it, but I think a lot of ordinary people just think it's another word for compassion. If they think we don't give a damn about them, why should they give a damn about us? I wouldn't, if I were in their shoes. But I'm not supposed to be able to put myself into other people's shoes.

Algebra was a major brain-killer for me. I got a B the first semester, but my grades began slipping when it stopped making sense. I eventually did make it second year algebra, but that was in my junior year at university. By that time, I had almost finished all of my credits in my major (English). I don't dislike math, but I just couldn't understand it after a while.

elsapelsa,

I was a lot like your daughter when I was little, too. I was described as social and loving by my first grade teacher. Unfortunately, I became much less social and more obsessed with my studies as I got older. I am working now to become more social by associating with people who share my interests and outlook on life. I wish the best for your daughter and hope that people see the sweet, loving person she is.

Here's one: Why do so many of the quirky but highly successful people want a diagnosis? Is it to seek attention?

"I had a 'brain fart' once where I did that embarrassing thing that your autistic traits give you endless trouble with, so I guess I must be 'a little bit autistic' too - that's why they call it a spectrum, isn't it?"

Honestly, I wish the whole 'spectrum' metaphor hadn't been dreamed up; I'm convinced it has done more harm than good.

I hate the stereotypes that we're all geniuses at maths and computers. It's not helpful for those of us who really aren't.

the Rainman and playing with feces stereotypes.

that we can't be creative or imaginative

that we're all savants

That we don't like fiction

that it's a male thing

autism ends with childhood

that we're honest to a fault and natural born whistle blowers

that we're always innocent and never do anything on purpose

any trait we are expected to always have, like not getting jokes or taking everything literally, or not being able to interpret any facial expressions at all

that we're all into routines and have to do everything at the same time (I just wanna do whatever when I want)

that we only feel basic emotions or don't know our own emotions

all aspies desperately want friends and want to be social, none of us are naturally aloof and asocial

this one for me too

I fit a lot of the stereotypes.

I like my routines, especially since I now have more socially and physically active pursuits than I had years ago.

That we all would excel at technology-related jobs. My mom, who is the most understanding and supportive, is trying to pressure me into learning coding even though she knows full well I have zero interest.

Echoing @dragonsanddemons' sentiment: that we're all apparently tech whizzes, or work in some form of finance. Oh, and that we all look far younger than our years.

To be fair, some of these stereotypes exist for a reason; I say that as the daughter of an autistic father who was indeed an accountant, and two autistic cousins excelling in the tech industry who could each pass for 10-15 years younger appearance-wise. But there are always exceptions.

That autistic women always have a lot easier lives than autistic men. Yes, some of us might have easier lives than some men, but I'm sure some men have it easier than some women, too.

Fortunately, this forum is the only place I've heard this stereotype in, but it really is annoying... I stopped using the Love and Dating -section partly because of it.

I would think the opposite is true due to the historical lack of understanding of female autism and the female experience in general. But as always it is a matter of her own autism combined with the people she had had to deal with. Same for men.

While it varies a lot most autistics are at an unfair disadvantage in a mostly NT world. Uniting instead of dividing ourselves via "oppression Olympics" is the best way to ease these disadvantages.

Smearing feces on walls. I read that on the comment section of an article not more than 20 minutes ago. An article about a five year old autistic murdered by his father no less. Same poster also brought up eugenics in thier comment as well, just something to remember when dealing with the general public: be careful who you disclose your diagnosis to, some people actually want you dead because of it.

If you were referring to me at all, I am truly sorry if anything I in particular said upset you. I don't mean to perpetuate that stereotype; it just happens to be the one I, in my subjective experience, have encountered. I'm fully aware that apprearances can be deceptive, and that something being (seemingly) comparitively easier doesn't mean it's easy.