How do you feel about "invisible" autistics?

Post Reply New Topic

What i mean by this is how do you feel when people who seem to have no issues with things you find very difficult (social situations, sensory etc.) publicly announce they are autistic. Do you think that it is a good thing, or do you sometimes feel that they portray autism as a solely good thing and not the bitter-sweet mess it actually is? Or do you not have an opinion?
I mostly think its okay but i do sometimes get annoyed due to the fact that they arent affected very much but still make a big deal out of it and even sometimes spread misinformation

I'm assuming this got lost in the baba ji posts. I would also like to know the answer to this. Mostly because in my own research I am actively promoting these narratives- autistics who are either not having problems or are effectively dealing with any problems successfully with their own coping mechanisms. So...bump!

For me, I know several people who are autistic but don't seem to have any trouble. But I know they're probably just putting up a front and they really do struggle.

Unless I'm misunderstanding, is it not a requirement of the diagnosis that it is causing struggles of some sort?

I do okay, not great, most of the time.

However, I still get in trouble because I misinterpret subtle things.

The other day, something happened in a courtroom. I wasn't supposed to be there. The court officers were trying to use subtle hints to get me out of the courtroom. I didn't get the hints. I got in slight trouble.

This edges into "not autistic enough." I don't pass judgement, because though that person may seem unaffected to you, you can never know what kind of effort goes into that performance, of what they're like on bad days or when they drop the act. Just because someone copes well, or appears to, doesn't invalidate the fact that they're autistic, in my opinion. Certainly doesn't mean anything that they cope better when compared to me. We're individuals.

I would love to be literally invisible, just for a few days. I would sneak around and listen in on what people really think. I know that sounds creepy, but it would be for research. All confidentiality kept! I just want to know what other people are like when they are alone.

As for blending in, I'm one of those people, unless you talk to me online, when I let my inner weirdo rip. Or if you could see me alone. Then you'd be like "oh, boy! That dude's autistic."

Sorry to brag, but I'm very good at picking autistic people out. I have terrible gay-dar and really good autistic-dar. So, those of you who think you fit in so well might find yourself being very seen as quite transparent if I was around.

I think its really unfair to everyone involved to decide that when people are able to deal well with their autism, this means that they are no longer autistic. First off, doing so risks removing the very supports that are allowing them to cope so well. Secondly, autistics who haven't found a way to cope yet are deprived of a role model who could help guide them.

Thanks for the replies, i in no way mean that the people i mentioned in this thread aren't autistic enough, simply that they have borderline/very mild autism and how people with mild/moderate/severe autism feel about it.

I am glad that they don't have difficulties but frustrated that I'm still fairly mild (I didn't get a Level in my actual diagnosis letter and my wife reckons I come in at about 1.5 except on a very good day) and some of these people make out that autism is an entirely positive trait and that only the severely affected/those with intellectual difficulty struggle.

I feel like there's a movement towards people for whom experience very minimal affects and those who are very severely affected but little nuance. Someone like myself who holds a job (which is centred around working with people) but whose wife was advised to get a carers assessment and has sensory and executive function problems which cause far greater difficulty than my social ones, aren't really recognised. I experience difficulty with speaking and a tendency towards speaking in fragments when I come home almost every day but also am able to speak fluently.

I assume they were diagnosed in their childhood and got help, therefore they stick out less.

Last edited by clay5 on 26 Jul 2016, 12:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Are there invisible autistics? I've never seen one.

If they don't have problems I don't see why they would have landed in a mental health professional's office to get their diagnosis in the first place.
I've seen an "invisible autist" who coped very well socially etc - from what I could tell from the outside. He was probably diagnosed as a child or teen and received the right kind of support.

No problem with them. While there are many obvoiusly autistic out advocates, to out oneself it is easier if you are milder and have "go getter" type attitude, so it is likely that there is a higher percentage of out autistics that present as "invisible". As said how one presents does not preclude one from bieng exhausted or worse on the inside. It does not preclude the possibility that as as child they were very obvoius.

I do have a problem with assumptioms made by many about these type of people.

Is that supposed to be a joke?

Peace
TK

I don't like people who act like there autistic for personal gain, but It could very well be that they are passing. Though why Would they say they are autistic if they are passing.

Some people don't bother to ever get a formal diagnosis, because they aren't having problems per se. Like, I have red spectrum hair. I have to wear SPF 50 sunblock whenever I go outside to avoid sunburns and I can't dye my hair because it comes out clown orange no matter what color I try. I don't consider these actual problems, just nuisances. Some people look at autism the same way. Minor difficulties, but not enough to require seeing someone or much discussion about it.

Another issue that is some people may not incorporate autism into their personal identities, but have autistic mannerisms that are picked up by other people. So they may be treated differently (given help they don't ask for, or discriminated against).

And yet another way in which people can be invisible is that people can misunderstand what it is to be autistic. You may have problems and strengths in certain areas but other people repeatedly try to attribute your strengths and weaknesses in OTHER areas. You know, like when people hear "autism" and think you're Rain Man.