Autism influencers on IG, X, TikTok, etc.
Of the 3 platforms identified in my subject line, I actually only use IG but I think a lot of what happens there also happens on the other 2.
I started by looking at some things posted by people from Love On the Spectrum. Somewhere along the way, a bunch of other what I would call autism influencers started to show up in my feed. All of them relatively young (early 40s or younger) women who would be considered attractive or at least know how to make themselves attractive i.e. to men. A lot of them seem to be recently diagnosed.
What I mostly notice is that they talk about autism as though they are experts on the topic, as well as implying that all autistic people share their particular experience, or at least all autistic women. But I also think they do it in a way intended to attract male eyeballs. A lot of it doesn't seem all that impactful.
Just wondering if I'm imagining all this?
Most of these influencers are full of s**t and make up entirely new concepts that have never been part of the autism "canon" as most people know it. They're hopping on the "neurodivergency" trend and would be claiming some other disorder if autism weren't currently cool.
The spectrum is too wide as is and this lot have rendered the label completely meaningless and I dislike them for that. They did snap me out of my own denial though, by being nothing like me or any legit aspies I've met.
