this post was submitted on 30 May 2026
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Autism

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How to you feel about using autism as a joking synonym for "dumb" or "awkward"? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 4 days ago by Alvaro@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/autism@lemmy.world
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I have been struggling with this because a lot of people around me use it in this manner when they do something dumb or they act in an awkward way and they'll be like "oh, that was autistic of me" or "I've got the tism" and I always feel so uncomfortable but I also don't know how to raise it or what to say. I am myself not diagnosed, but I'm pretty sure I am on the spectrum. I was just wondering what you think of it and how you handle it.

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[โ€“] pack@sh.itjust.works 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I've only had something like that happen once, and I suggested that I had some good resources from my wife and kid, and I could hook him up. He kind of awkwardly laughed it off and said he was good.

I still don't know if he was trying to be use it as a punchline, or trying to share his condition. I certainly don't want to push people away from sharing their struggles if they are using humor to deal with a hard topic. But yeah, using it as a punch line is pretty insensitive. I've said I was being OCD as a joke about being particular about a project, and I totally could have hurt someone's feelings who actually struggles with a real condition, and that kind of sucks.

[โ€“] reversedposterior@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Yeah I used to say stuff like that too when I was young and didn't know any better but I avoid jokes that refer to conditions in that sort of way now