Is it OK to be autistic and not embrace autistic culture?

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I was diagnosed with autism when I was four years old. Now I am in my mid-teens and I have been looking at how the internet sees autism. I came across the autistic rights movement when I was 15. I like the idea of how the members want people to treat them right and have autism recognised as not being a disorder, but I feel I don't fit in with the autistic culture. I just think I don't meet the criteria for it because:

1. I rarely, if ever, stim. As a kid, I used to stim quite a bit (mostly spinning round objects), but I don't do it so much now that I'm a teenager. I don't even own a single stim toy. (I am pro-stim btw)

2. I have learned to cope with my sensory issues and anxiety very well over the years. They were very bad when I was a kid, but now they are only mild and under control.

3. I'm not that offended by the concept of curing autism (it does bug me a bit), but I do think we should be accepting it more as a difference.

4. Autistic culture supporters seem to only ever talk about autism. I prefer varied conversations and if I were an autistic culture supporter, I would talk about so much more than autism (e.g. what I am doing in my life etc).

5. Spelling autism with a capital A REALLY bugs me because it's not a person's name or a brand, unlike Asperger syndrome, which was named after Hans Asperger. I get that it's because people identify with the culture, much like how deaf people use "Deaf" if they identify with their culture.

6. I sometimes worry about what people will think if they find out I'm autistic.

Just so you know, I am anti-Autism Speaks. I don't feel it's right to research into a cure for autism, especially if you only cater towards families with autistic kids and not autistic people as a whole. I just want to know if it's OK to be autistic and not embrace the culture, if there are any like-minded people here, please feel free to reply. Thanks

Yes it is ok.

Nobody is "an autist".

You are a person with autism, with an experience, with some knowledge, with plenty of other things.
(a)utism does not define you as a person.

The concepts of 'neurodiversity' and 'autism acceptance' are nonsense if they assume that all people on the spectrum must embrace the same beliefs and behaviours.

Thank you for posting this. I've had some inner conflict lately about the views I hold in regards to things like the Neurodiversity movement (all positive ones) in contrast to what groups like Autism Speaks while some hold AS in high regard, I don't think they're doing much good.

^^^^
This

Indeed. Logical.

Thanks for your kind responses to my post - it has really cheered me up!
Guess that's my flash of brilliance for the year used up then!

I don't understand, what exactly is "autistic culture"?

You have an independent and intelligent attitude, which is very healthy. This can contribute more to improving society's understanding of autism than the slavish behaviour of some 'Autism' groupies.

Exactly WHAT "autistic culture" are you referring to?

My comprehension of OP's definition of Autistic culture is similar to the way the media presents it. I think the media's culture includes things like being in support of Autism Speaks and their "light it blue" activities, and just generally supporting the community in every way possible.

I personally don't think this is the best way to go about it. Awareness is important, but it shouldn't take a charity telling people what to do to enact change on a person to person basis. I don't particularly embrace autistic culture in this way very much because while it's good intentioned, I think the most stands to be gained from individuals like ourselves on this forum deciding what aspects are important to them and getting together with people that share their views and even those that do not to create a discussion. Even a few years prior to me learning I'm an aspie and what that meant to me, I thought it was really strange the only Autism organization you ever heard about in the news or in advertising was Autism Speaks.

The situation is similar here in the UK. Whenever there is any kind of political or cultural debate about autism, a quick consultation with the National Autistic Society is always deemed to be equivalent to grass roots opinion. In that sense at least, I think that trying to project the existence of an "autistic culture" can be counter-productive - it encourages people to assume that we are a homogeneous demographic block, with a singular opinion on the subject being debated.

My impression is that the NAS is somewhat more considerate of autistic adults than Autism Speaks,, but there is a definite bias towards support for children and carers (it was formerly the National Autistic Children's Society). Although nominally a charity, its efforts are also skewed by that fact that most of its funding is not from donations. Primarily it is funded by local healthcare and civil authorities employing it as a service provider, biasing help towards those people with a "funding stream" for their care. Even on their own forums, people are openly critical of the under-representation of minority opinions.

That's been my impression from what a Welsh friend of mine has told me. I also heard in passing the UK at large has the highest rate of Autism diagnosis, is there any truth to that notion or is it similar to our CDC's 1 in 81 figure?

Yes, I definitely think that is ok.

I can relate to most of your points, lembowman. I do stim in some ways, but it's not very noticeable and not the kind I could post a video of to spread autism positivity. I understand very well what you mean by point 3-6, and share most of your views. And I too feel like I don't really fit in in those circles because of that.

As many others have said, Trogluddite has wise words.

I also think that things like neurodiversity and autistic culture exist for us, which means that you're allowed to embrace it if it helps you, or distance yourself from it/ignore it if it doesn't help you. There's no right or wrong in this except your own wants and needs.

Each to their own, exactly. I have wondered even whether just the fact that I was diagnosed so recently, and so late in life, skews my opinion - so I definitely want to hear what other people are thinking on the matter, and will give a thumbs up to any initiative that looks promising. But not dogma.

@greenlyn
I think part of the difference in UK figures may simply be down to differences in our healthcare system. Although getting a diagnosis can still be difficult, our healthcare system is universally free at point of use. Our diagnosis is not nearly so dependent on having private insurance, which can often be linked to ones employment or financial status.
There was also a law (the Autism Act) passed a while ago making it a statutory responsibility for local authorities to know how many autistic people were in their jurisdiction, and to have plans in place for appropriate social provision.
I get the sense that this has also made evaluation more accessible - though, if I understand correctly, the local authorities weren't actually given any extra money to do this with, other than raising local taxes.