Anyone seen an autism card in the wild?

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^That would have made me anxious and stressed too. Why have signs if the staff say different? You're not a mind-reader. Plus it's humiliating to be shouted at like that in public when you weren't even doing anything wrong.
i don't want to hear excuses from other members sticking up for the airport worker, so just spare me the lectures.

I am good at masking in public even if I'm at my most anxious. So there's 0 chance that I'm going to suddenly melt down and go non-verbal and need special treatment from others. If I did "lose it", it would just be me yelling and then walking out of the situation (hopefully this will never happen).
When I'm stressed the worst I have done is mutter under my breath or sigh or show that I'm irritated through body language, which often offends parents with noisy/naughty kids that are making me feel stressed. So I need a card that says "I HAVE ADHD/ASD AND CAN GET EASILY OVERWHELMED AT ENERGETIC NOISY CHILDREN, SO PLEASE DO NOT TAKE IT PERSONALLY IF I'M ACTING IN DISTRESS NEAR YOU, I CAN'T ALWAYS HOLD MY EMOTIONS IN". But I don't think anyone will bother to take the time to read that. If I was a parent with a screaming kid, and a stranger showed irritability, I'd just ignore them but at the same time understand their reaction.

Just for another perspective…

I have a card for Crohn’s disease… you’re supposed to use this if you’re about to crap yourself in public. If there’s a line for the public toilet you just advance to the front, show the card and go in next. Or you can find a helpful staff member in a shop, show the card and they will let you use the staff toilets.

I’ve never used it, I’d rather crap myself than receive a load of abuse. Can’t see an Autism card working tbh.

I cant imagine any universe in which such a card would be useful.

In fact ...presenting it could be disastrous.

It's worked quite well for me when I've been too overwhelmed to respond to others verbally and was functionally non-responsive outside of basic movements. A couple of times in hospitals, for example. The staff knew exactly what was going on when I was able to get it out and show them. Hospitals can be quite overwhelming when busy. Loud. Bright. Lots of movements. Narrow hallways. Combined with why you're there. Shutdowns or mutism aren't that uncommon in those with high-functioning autism when overwhelmed.

I have a medical bracelet somewhere, but I don't wear it.

I never tried a card, but the hospital staff around here assume that all invisible handicaps are fake, and that I become instantly healed of everything except one new complaint when I enter the hospital. All the smart ones leave quickly.

I go around with a lanyard thing around my neck with a medical card saying im autistic because i can have meltdowns in public

doesnt change the behaviours and attitude of other people but it still makes them aware

i mean like a learner driver ,other road users may not be considerate that its a learner but the least they can do is know that its a learner

awareness isnt always the same as consideration but i prefer people to know,i dont expect consideration

How is it possible to make a hypothetical anecdote of a day with Crohn's disease amusing?

"I crap my pants from time to time, can I please use the toilet in a hurry maaamm?"

But yeah I agree, you need to be virtually overwhelmed and in the middle a meltdown for an autism card to be of the slightest use really.

Being aspie, or "high functioning" or 'level one' or whatever I would be called now...I cant imagine what use it would be to me. I dont get "melt downs".

If you DO get some benifit from it then...wearing it around your neck on a lanyard is probably a good idea- rather than keeping it in you vest pocket or wallet.

This brings me to my other point- not only would such a card seem useless to me...it would seem dangerous.

Way back in 1969 when I was 14 dad was outraged by something he heard on the radio news. He said that a guy with a speech impediment had a card like that explaining that he had a speech impediment. The guy was stopped by two cops. So naturally he reached into his vest pocket to get the card to show the cops. Dad said "one of the dumb cops thought he was pulling a gun...so he shot the guy. But he missed, and accidently hit, and wounded the OTHER dumb cop. And then both cops together gunned the guy down and killed him".

The story mustve made an emotional impact on me because I still remember it fifty plus years later.

Then ....a few years ago...I myself was pulled over by two lady cops. They asked to see me registration. So I obliged. But my registration was in a zip bag that was in a plastic box in the back seat. I started for my glove compartment, but then remembered the actual location, turned around and reached into the back seat, and suddenly both ladies...reached for their holsters! "I am just getting the registration card". They didnt actually DRAW their guns, but still...almost soiled myself.

Even when you go for the thing (my registration card) that they ask you for (but reach for it in an unexpected direction) you can get killed by the cops! So if you reach for your "sorry I have autism card" that they dont expect from you...then what would be your survival odds?

I haven't seen one of these cards in public. Instead of an "autism card", after I get diagnosed I've considered getting one of those designations on my ID that my state offers, that says that I have a developmental disability. It would only really be useful in a health related emergency, and my states website for it even says that.

I just make my own. Write whatever you want to say on an index card and have it laminated

There is a downloadable wallet card on this page, I do carry one. I also have personal cards that I had made, one side says AUTISM the other has my email and my blog/website addresses. One is an emergency ID , the other is to make contact with others for other purposes.

https://www.aane.org/resources/wallet-card/

Funnily, they explain how I've used mine before.

Wallet cards can be used in addition to a medical ID bracelet to share information in non-confrontational situations (e.g. with a health care provider at a regular visit or at the emergency room).

I like how they go over police, albeit they assume the person in question is able to communicate. This is where a medical bracelet will come in handy the most, as you just need to put your empty hands out for them to see you aren't a threat and there's a medical issue going on.

I saw someone with an I have Autism card dangling around their neck the other week. How the people who wear these things haven't been beaten up for it yet I do not know.

Anyway, maybe someone could enlighten me. Why do these alert cards always contain spaces for 'Emergency Contacts'? Some of the more official cards which you have to apply for, make it mandatory to provide these details.

Perhaps those with more severe Autism will have carers or be looked after by their parents, but I've found people with Aspergers (or similar) tend to be more likely to live on their own, have little (if any family), and have minimal access to health & social care.

I need an ADHD card when it comes to standing in queues because I really cannot stand still and I start feeling incredibly anxious and stressed. But I know that such a thing doesn't exist and I also know that if there was a card for everything then there'd be no order. Still, it would be nice to be like a VIP or something.

You could have sent the laptop to me. I love things that are green. I think those cards are a good idea.

Why should we have to have one of those cards with us? Why should we constantly have to explain ourselves to those who are easily "offended" by our demeanour, behaviour or way of seeing the world, and simply because they don't have the ability to empathise the way we do, and our mere presence is "creeping them out"? If I get one of those cards, then I will do so only on the condition that NT's do the same, and with the following inscribed upon it:

I AM NEUROTYPICAL

Please Be Calm

* I may try to engage you in pointless and totally unproductive 'small talk'
* I may judge you and call you nasty names, and gaslight and bully you, because I can't handle people who aren't just like me.
* I may become extremely angry if you correct me in any way, or contradict a single thing I have to say.
* I can't handle the truth, so please try to use obscure, euphemistic language as much as you can, whilst dancing around the topic that is making me feel so uncomfortable, because I value feelings more than the truth.