I'm tired of all awkward people being called autistic.

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I agree. For myself, I have long wondered if I'm a true autistic or my combination of other issues makes it seem like I'm autistic. My issues: depression, anxiety, PTSD, gay, mixed race, immigrant, high IQ, AvPD (self diagnosed).

Abused? Yes.
Neglected? Yes.
Bullied? Yes.
Can't relate to people/not interested in what people have to say/hates small talk? Yes.
Fixated special interests? Yes.
Light and sound sensitivity? Yes, but no where near the intensity that other people experience.
Rigid thinking? Absolutely. (This is the one thing that gets me in the most trouble).
Can't hold a job to save my life? Yes. (I've had about 30 jobs in my life).
Depression to the point of attempting suicide? Yes.
Low self esteem? Yes. Actually "paid" people to be his friend (bought them alcohol and drugs).
Oddball? Yes.
Rocking back and forth? Yes...as a kid, but this could be due to me being beaten so often.
Make eye contact? No...when I was a kid, but this could also be due to the intense amount of abuse I had.
Collects and categorizes things? Yes.
Logical? Yes, to the point it annoys people.
Loner? Yes.
Bad relationships? Is the sky blue?
Homeless? Yes. (I mention this because it seems like I meet more and more autistic people on the street).
Poor social issues? Yes. Can make friends, just doesn't keep them. Ever.
Repetitive behavior? Well, I do stim with my legs and wear the same exact thing day in, day out, but I don't know if this qualifies as repetitive behavior. My diet is the same every day but this could also be related to me being dirt poor and a Jain.
Intensely curious? Yes. Why play with a toy car when you can take it apart to see what makes it work?
Questions everything? Yes. That's not an autistic trait, I think, but the high number of questions I ask in seeking clarification of something drives people insane.
Unusual speech? Yes. Speaks in 3rd person at times.
Very creative? Yes. Again, not an autistic trait, but worth mentioning that I've written about 10 books, published two on Amazon so far, have written or co-written four albums which are also on Amazon. Also have a blog, wrote more that 40 short stories, five screenplays, and I'm writing a book now which should be out in a few months. Then I'm going to edit a novel I wrote about three years ago and publish it in the spring of next year. As far as music goes, I play many instruments - guitar, bass, keyboards, drums...all of which I taught myself. Also taught myself audio engineering with my main tool being Cubase on PC.

Last edited by redrobin62 on 28 May 2016, 2:06 pm, edited 5 times in total.

I love this. Fantastic statement.

Yeah, it's becoming ridiculous. They even call quiet people who read books Autistic now'days.

It happens all the time because people like to generalize and not truly understand what they're referencing. And not just for autism; are you obsessive about order and cleanliness? OCD. Do you frequently fluctuate between being happy and sad? Bipolar. Do you feel a bit bummed out over something stupidly superficial that really doesn't matter? Depressed. Society as a whole is quite ignorant, or stupid.

And that makes it so difficult for people like us who really are those things to have our needs taken seriously.

Yeah, that too. I know some actual obsessive-compulsives and have read some autobiographies, and a lot of them don't care about cleanliness or order. Their obsessions can be about anything that's deeply terrifying to them or contrary to who they are or want to be. And I've seen people bandy about bipolarity to refer to mere emotional lability, when the real deal can involve psychotic breaks, suicidal tendencies, very dangerous behavior, and other stuff people wouldn't or shouldn't want to exactly bandy about.

I sometimes feel like identifying as typical and average and downplaying whatever quirks I do or did have is an act of rebellion in a world where other basically typical people are looking to fly their freak flags. But flying a not-a-freak flag in defiance is also just a silly game. I have tried changing the minds of people who overrate quirks and underrate real mental disorders, and it doesn't work. So the only thing left that makes sense is to make my best effort to not do it myself, and "agree to disagree" with those who continue to make these mistakes.

My second ex boyfriend kept telling me I didn't have OCD even though I was told in high school I did and the fact my doctor in Montana diagnosed me with it. Why did my ex think I didn't have it? He didn't think I was organized enough and the fact his apartment didn't bother me because of the clutter from my stuff. There was no room so it was all over and it was just boxes. It's not like I tossed my things all over the place and I kept picked up. He kept saying he had OCD because he liked things neat and put away and organized. That isn't OCD. He had no clue what it was. And here I was having worries and had stuff on my mind I couldn't get rid of because it was bugging me and it was stuff I wanted done like looking for a job and getting my car fixed and I couldn't get any of it done because of road blocks. So I did have a lot of anxiety because of stuff on my mind I wanted done but wasn't getting done. But I have found this in autism too so I can't see any difference.

Can't say i've noticed this.

Somebody can say I am feeling depressed or anxious and most people seem to be able to understand it is probably something temporary caused by a situation not clinical depression or anxiety disorder. With Autism the near total public and entertainment focus on social issues has precluded this. The situation would be bad enough if there were a few core stereotypes but with Autism the stereotypes are often polar opposites. If you are autistic people assume you are the quirky smart person or a 24 hour 7 day a week burden. 95+ percent of us are not Sheldon, Rainman, or a kid in one of those vaccines cause Autism videos. We are somewhere in between. People can say spectrum, spectrum, spectrum all they want until they accept in practice it does not matter.

The worse damage it is not from judgement of others which is bad enough but internalizing this s**t leading to "real autistics" doubting they and others are really autistic.