Why are some autism advocates so weird?

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I'm using the word weird because I can't think of any better word. I'm mainly talking about Donna Williams or Amanda Baggs. Pretty much everything they say is very strange and out there. When I read posts on WP or watch aspies on YouTube they seem relatively normal and coherent. I can kind of understand why Amanda Baggs is out there. She's apparently nonverbal. Donna Williams can speak pretty normally, so I don't get why she's so out there.

Well it's a spectrum. All humans are on some sort of spectrum, but being autistic means being on the edge of the bell curve. So, some are just further out there than others.

However, it does confuse me, because, although I share a neuorological trait with "profoundly autistic" people, fact is I have far more in common with neurotypicals than I do with them on the level of day to day experience.

I wonder if some of the more profoundly autistic people out there have other neurological traits that just happen to exist alongside autism. For example, if someone is autistic AND mentally ret*d, they may get labeled as severely autistic, but the issue may be the mental handicap, but it takes on the flavor of autistic behavior. Non-autistic mentally ret*d people just get labelled mentally ret*d.

As for the folks who are intelligent but way out there, yeah it's weird. It may be just that the further you venture from neurotypicality, the more random traits come in, and you never know what you're going to get. Artist, scientist, conspiracy theorist, outcast, eccentric...also comorbid traits like depression and anxiety could destabilize someone.

Some of them could also be schizophrenic, but I've seen schizophrenic people that seem pretty normal as well. I just don't get those people.

Accept them as they are. They are on the spectrum as well as us and have done nothing to deserve scorn. Also, calling others weird on the spectrum isn't the nicest thing to say.

I don't mean anything bad. I just can't think of any better word than "weird." I'm just trying to understand why they are like that.

I'm not sure what behavior you're referring to. Could you post some examples?
I too like to understand others so I'd be curious as to what you see as weird.
I do find that some autistic people I get along with fabulously, and others- not so much. NTs definitely not nearly as much- mostly because I perpetually confuse them. usually by being incredibly honest haha. and blunt...

I'm talking mostly about their writing style. I don't really see how they behave. Their writing style seems really out there. Most aspies on WP and YouTube seem to be more down to earth.

Personally I don't like Temple Grandin, and I have no idea why she's as famous as she is. Shouldn't the world's most famous autistic person be a world class athlete or a NASA engineer or something? She holds a doctorate in some made-up pseudoscience; color me unimpressed.

Probably because she was one of the first autistic authors. She was also diagnosed at a young age. Those athletes or NASA engineers probably weren't diagnosed as young.

Temple Grandin happens to believe in common sense. She doesn't believe in letting your autism hamper you/keep you down.

She invented some devices which enable farm animals to be vaccinated against diseases more humanely. Previously, being vaccinated was really a rough experience for these animals. Temple made use of her knowledge of how animals posture themselves (she was able to view things from the viewpoint of the animal, rather than the human) to create these inventions. Without that "autistic" view of things, these inventions wouldn't have happened.

She also has earned a PhD. Without accommodations.

She was classically autistic when she was very young. She was then diagnosed with Asperger's very recently (now, she would be diagnosed with Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder). To me, she still has classic autistic characteristics, though.

Weirdness makes a person stand out more and get more attention.

That makes sense. I also suspect the editor tried to make things sound more weird because they expect that from autistic people.

i always liked donna williams.she had a crazy life so she's a bit nutty.but i think she makes sense most of the time

Who are you calling weird? I prefer "quirky" or "eccentric".

Most of my advocacy is local and grass-roots. I try my best when interacting with non-autistic folk not to make autistic people look bad or to reinforce negative stereotypes.

I think that's very sound advice. I make a point of accepting everybody as they are. At the end of the day, we're all different from each other, autistic or not.

Autism advocates or not, some people are just weird.