this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2025
569 points (98.8% liked)

Autism

8813 readers
371 users here now

A community for respectful discussion and memes related to autism acceptance. All neurotypes are welcome.

Community:

Values

  • Acceptance
  • Openness
  • Understanding
  • Equality
  • Reciprocity
  • Mutuality
  • Love

Rules

  1. No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments e.g: racism, sexism, religious hatred, homophobia, gatekeeping, trolling.
  2. Posts do not need be related to autism, off-topic discussions are allowed. This is a safe space where people with autism can feel comfortable discussing whatever they feel like discussing, as long as it does not violate the standing rules.
  3. Your posts must include a text body. It doesn't have to be long, it just needs to be descriptive.
  4. Do not request donations.
  5. Be respectful in discussions.
  6. Do not post misinformation.
  7. Mark NSFW content accordingly.
  8. Do not promote Autism Speaks.
  9. General Lemmy World rules.
  10. No bots. Humans only.

Encouraged

  1. Open acceptance of all autism levels as a respectable neurotype.
  2. Funny memes.
  3. Respectful venting.
  4. Describe posts of pictures/memes using text in the body for our visually impaired users.
  5. Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
  6. Questions regarding autism.
  7. Questions on confusing situations.
  8. Seeking and sharing support.
  9. Engagement in our community's values.
  10. Expressing a difference of opinion without directly insulting another user.
  11. Please report questionable posts and let the mods deal with it.

.

Helpful Resources

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] ThunderLegend@sh.itjust.works 13 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I had an austitic coworker that asked me if I was autistic too..I got tested and, no..I was diagnosed with ADHD though

[–] starelfsc2@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 days ago

A lot of the symptoms are pretty similar at first glance

[–] BilboBargains@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] Test_Tickles@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Autism Light, the one you treat with meth!

[–] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago (1 children)

So...

that person was doing great socially and then someone else wasn't?

[–] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 4 points 6 days ago

He got his self-esteem destroyed and the night ruined by this

[–] FreddiesLantern@leminal.space 1 points 6 days ago

Respond with “Why? You aren’t?”.

[–] BilboBargains@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Taking a question like that at face value could mean they were being socially inept and lacking self awareness. It could also be motivated by jealousy if the target is getting more attention. The best approach is to fire back with both barrels, culminating in a physical altercation and criminal proceedings.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 1 points 6 days ago

And were you?

[–] Strider@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Going to parties mostly isn't even an option.

[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 78 points 1 week ago (3 children)
[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 64 points 1 week ago (2 children)

"Are you autistic? Because I want you to take me home and show me your trains!" 😉

[–] ByteJunk@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] joelfromaus@aussie.zone 18 points 1 week ago

Get to her house, she’s asks you to run a 1 person train on her, no model trains in sight, confusion…

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] ruuster13@lemmy.zip 62 points 1 week ago

That's literally how I find my people. You know by how they say it if it's judgmental or endearing... or you don't and you just have to ask.

[–] ICCrawler@lemmy.world 44 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The only time I've ever had someone approach me asking about my autism was from a fellow autist. Twas a good talk.

[–] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

that's what i got from this. unless she said it in front of other people to be embarrassing, i think she wants to talk about it.

[–] RebekahWSD@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Sort of. It's more like "I think I'm doing well socializing then I'll find out later secondhand they think I'm a fucking idiot child and mocked me after I left."

And then I'm tired as hell to try again.

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 33 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If they mock you after you leave they suck anyway. No loss for you.

[–] RebekahWSD@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I still want to get better at socializing and it's so difficult when neurotypicals act polite to your face and then do that! It makes to so hard to learn!

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

It’s entirely fair to want to get better at it, but those people probably couldn’t help you even if they were inclined to, because they’re bad at socializing- they invited someone whose socialization style doesn’t vibe with their party, then their response is to mock the guest for their own mistake.

Not everyone is like that, and not every neurotypical is like that. It’s hard to find a good group, but one exists for you.

Also, specifically regarding learning to socialize: you don’t necessarily have to get help from neurotypicals- that’s like having a math teacher who’s just naturally good at math, vs one who had to struggle to master it. You learn better from the latter if you’re not also gifted at math.

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago

I agree it does suck. Hopefully you can find a group you can feel safe in to practice!

[–] FosterMolasses@leminal.space 10 points 1 week ago

For the record, that experience is also universal. You could be perfectly socially adjusted and you'll still meet fake AF people on occasion. Narcissists have a habit of fawning to your face and then doing 180s on their opinion of you the moment you're out of their line of sight lol. Don't worry about it.

[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 8 points 1 week ago

Well in that case these people are not worth your time.

[–] hodgepodgin@lemmy.zip 24 points 1 week ago (2 children)

My friends joke about me being autistic (e.g. last get together) and I have to remind them I am not. I am really just poorly socially trained, which has the difference of being better at with time. Thing is, I talk to almost no one, so I am basically a baby raised by wolves. This is coupled with my social anxiety, but I am usually outgoing once I remove that limiter.

[–] partofthevoice@lemmy.zip 13 points 6 days ago

I don’t know. I’m autistic, and my most recent therapist mentioned to me that I am probably the best person at hiding it he’s ever seen. I’ve had sales jobs, jobs that required I be a good persuader with stakeholders, and I’ve had a deep longing to make authentic relationships with people.

But, yeah I’m still autistic. After a long conversation, I need a nap.

[–] weariedfae@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago

Autistic people can learn social cues and can absolutely improve over time. We just don't intuit the rules automatically, especially unspoken or conflicting rules. If that sounds like you then methinks the lady doth protest too much.

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Many years ago, I was working together with a girl my age for about 3 months and I had decided pretty early on that I didn't want to impress her, but that I would use the time to work on smalltalk and such. It was a factory job with lots of boring tasks, so there were lots of opportunities to entertain each other.

After 2½ months, I felt like I was doing better than I've ever done in my life. Then she hit me with the sentence: "I don't think any girl would want to go out with you, because you don't talk enough."

So, basically worst case: That's genuinely what she thought.
'Best' case: She was trying to hurt me, but well, she still knew which wound to poke into, so I guess, I wasn't doing that great either way.

[–] Nalivai@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Some people aren't nice or good people, oh well.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 14 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I asked that once to good colleague of mine because I was just so blown away by his attention to detail and ability to recall the smallest of facts at a drop of a hat.

He went quiet, and I realised I'd goofed.

I also once said "I need to rice this analysis" to an asian colleague of mine, without fully understanding what that word came from. Again, goofed.

[–] Event_Horizon@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

"I meant it as a compliment" ~~ the absolute worse thing you can say in defense, so I didn't

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 week ago

"I love rice!"

[–] titanicx@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Where in the world did rice this analysis come from? I have literally never heard that anywhere in the professional world or non-professional world. The only time I've heard the word rice being used in that instance is when they're talking about Asian cars that are riced out example. I work in and out of a lot of professional places including laboratories and hospitals and I've never even heard a glimpse of that or anything.

[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I took it from "rice my config" to "yak-shaving my config" to "yak-shaving my analysis" to "rice my analysis"

Essentially, I thought it meant "to finesse". It instead means "form over function with racist undertones". I am an idiot, yes

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 week ago (3 children)

As an ASD and a wordnik, ricing is a form of food prep homogenization, reducing a lumpy medium to the consistency of rice or finer, e.g. potato ricing.

Maybe I'm missing a key element.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Berengaria_of_Navarre@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Nah I live in Scandinavia. Autism largely goes unnoticed.

[–] Eq0@literature.cafe 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

We notice. It's just a professional environment so no one is going to say anything and it literally doesn't matter.

[–] xxce2AAb@feddit.dk 12 points 1 week ago

Uh, n-no. Never!

Admittedly, that might be because they never struck up a conversion in the first place, or just sort of wandered off swiftly while looking at me funny.

Hard to tell.

[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Invited to a party? Can't relate.

Edit: just noted the community. I'm not diagnosed so 🤷‍♂️

[–] Lexam@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago

Too late, you've caught the aughts now.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 5 points 1 week ago

I guess I'm good at masking, the first time someone called me autist was in 2024.

Could also be that I'm not exactly very social. Could also be that most people don't actually understand that autism spectrum includes people that are "almost normal", not only the obvious "babbling weirdos"

I'm in this picture...and I hates it >.<

load more comments
view more: next ›