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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[–] deliriousdreams@fedia.io 4 points 3 days ago

I'm annoyed by it. Not necessarily because I think it's offensive, but because I think it normalizes not taking the neurological condition seriously.

It's the kind of thing that dead ends people's thoughts on the subject.

It's one thing when someone with Autism says they "have the 'tism". Its something else entirely when someone who doesn't have autism says it or jokes about it that way. I feel the same way about how people will say "everyone is a little OCD". No. That is not true. Not everyone has a compulsion they can't control that forces them to wash their hands until they bleed. Nobody cares if you like your desk tidy, Deborah.

I try to remind myself that people don't know but it's hard to call it out all the time. I'm not always in the head space to deal with people or their propensity to get defensive and mean.