#and like... i'm a low support needs autistic as well

[hallow-hollow]

yknow i'm starting to understand why high support needs autistics complain so fucking much about low support needs folks

there's no fucking difference between them and NTs when it comes to actually accommodating you. like even the leftie commie poly queer ones. god forbid you have hearing issues or need to know things in advance or have trouble getting the train. if you can't socialise then you should just go fuck yourself, because the social autistics do not give a fuck about you.

[transmasc-wizard]

low support needs autistic doesn't equal "just quirky" jesus christ

[dr-spectre]

The autism representation in Splatoon needs to be studied and celebrated because oh my god it's actually really damn good and some of the best in media, especially compared to how its usually portrayed in popular media....

As someone who is on the spectrum and has been diagnosed, it's really comforting to know that one of my favorite game series has such positive depictions of autism and isn't just stereotypical depictions we commonly see in media.

Autism in most media is either portrayed as white nerdy dudes who are cold robots that have super intelligence, can understand alien languages and see the world like they are a fucking Lego master builder or some shit and see blueprints in the sky like in The Good Doctor or The Big Bang Theory with Sheldon. Or it's portrayed as people who are incredibly disabled, cannot communicate and have constant tantrums as seen with the dogshit movie Music (2021). Literally the depiction of autism in that movie is actually fucking dangerous as it shows a person pushing an autistic person who is having a meltdown onto the ground and RESTRICTING THEM! WHICH IS VERY VERY VERY BAD! DO NOT DO THIS!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!! AUTISTIC PEOPLE HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF THIS!!!!!!!!

Now I'm not saying that these types of autistic people don't exist, remember, it's a spectrum so there's a ton of variety in people who have autism, some people have really high intelligence, some have low social skills and need help, some can talk for hours and hours to anyone, some need serious help to function day to day living and thats perfectly fine. however the type i listed of the super cold robotic genuis is just the really popular stereotype which impacts the perception of autistic people just trying to live and enjoy life like everyone else. Some autistic people are just in the middle and aren't on any of the extremes. There are tons of people who fall into the "low needs" and "high needs" sides of autism of course, however there isn't exactly a ton of representation for people in the middle and sometimes those popular representations of autism can damage the entire perception of the spectrum. And there still isn't a lot of fair representation of "high needs" autistic people in media and that needs to change as well.

Thankfully Splatoon doesn't go for any damaging stereotypes but instead goes for something a little more positive. I think the best examples of this are Marina, Marie and Harmony. While they haven't been canonically confirmed as being on the autism spectrum, they are heavily hinted that they are and show some evidence that supports it.

Harmony for instance is just.... a regular autistic girl, she isn't some incredibly smart girl, no, she's just a regular girl who speaks in a blunt and neutral way but that's about it. As someone who is autistic i can relate somewhat to how she speaks, in real life i tend to just say a few words when talking to someone and i don't really sound energetic or loud about it. i just go "Hey. Hi. Alright. Okay. Oh ok. Uh. I'm good." Some autistic people normally do not speak like they are the nerd emoji and sound hyper smart like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory, and they are not able to speak entirely. That's not what ALL autistic people sound like. There's a decent chunk of them that just speak regularly or speak a little quietly and thats okay. Harmony captures the speech of what a fair portion of autistic people talk like, but not every single autistic person of course. There is a large chunk of autistic people who need support when it comes to communication, and that's perfectly okay. They are just valid as human beings as the ones who can speak.

She also has an interest in music as she is the singer of Chirpy Chips and is seen stimming and fidgeting with an Ultra Hand. Autistic people usually fidget and stim to calm themselves down and keep their emotions in check, maybe Harmony plays with the Ultra Hand because it helps her stay calm when running Hotlantis.

Now it's time to talk about the most popular example of autistic representation in Splatoon. Marina.

She is quite shy when you zoom in on her in Splatoon 2 when you play as an Inkling, but is known to ramble about machinery and excavators to Pearl and Acht for hours at a time. Technology and machinery seem to be a special interest for her as shown with her creating the Shifty Stations for Splatfests, having hacking abilities and building the Memverse. She gets so much energy and excitement from working on the Memverse as shown by her dialogue in the Dev Diaries. However she is not a flawless super genius like in most depictions of autistic characters, she is known to have uncontrollable emotional outbursts, when Pearl even suggests the idea of Off the Hook breaking up she becomes extremely devastated and thinks of the worst case scenario in her dialogue from the Chaos vs Order Splatfest. She sometimes can't control her anger and snaps at Pearl after losing multiple times in a row in Splatfests.

She also has issues with proper work life balance as she overworks herself with working on the Memverse alongside going on a world tour with Pearl, she vents abouts this in her 10th Dev Diary in Side Order. And speaking of order, she chose team order because she wanted to maintain the balance in her life that she has found. A lot of autistic people have strict routines and any changes to that routine will cause them to get really distressed. If someone comes into my space and says "hey we're going out in 10 minutes." I'm gonna get pissed off and be in a terrible mood as my routine has been disrupted and i wanna do something else. Routines give autistic people a lot of comfort and predictability.

Marina's deepest flaw she kept hidden was the desire of a perfect world of order where nothing can change because she's so scared of her new life being destroyed, but she learns to overcome this fear of change with the help of Pearl by the end of Side Order which may inspire autistic people to learn to be more okay with change, even if its very hard.

Marina is also seen wearing her headphones quite often and rarely takes them off which may indicate she might have sensory issues. Some autistic people may suffer with sensory issues and need to wear headphones or certain pieces of clothing to stay calm and keep their emotions from becoming too much. I tend to wear headphones often because i hate my ears being exposed and I'm very sensitive to certain noises.

She also may have another special interest which may be the Squid Sisters as she litters her laptop and keytar with Squid Sister stickers. Marina also talks in a very excited tone when you get Marie's and Callie's palettes in Side Order. She also acts very giddy and excited during live performances with them and starts stimming which is shown by her moving around in place and clamping her hands together.

Another character who you might not think is autistic right away but shows signs of it is Marie. And to be honest i find her to be very relatable.

Marie is known to be more quiet than her cousin and she acted like this since she was a child. Marie also seems to struggle with social situations and struggles to talk with Agent 4 and Neo Agent 3 and wishes they can just leave her alone when you keep talking to her. However she seems to be a lot more comfortable talking with people she trusts and loves like her cousin Callie. She also makes quite snarky and sometimes rude comments but that doesn't mean she's a rude person, she just likes being cheeky and truly cares about the people around her. She even self loathes and worries about her cousin to an unhealthy degree.

A lot of people tend to say that autistic people have low empathy when in reality some autistic people are far from the case. Some autistic people might be TOO empathetic but they cannot show it because it's just so much for them that they can't properly express it. Marie may appear as rude and non caring but she's genuinely a very caring and emotional person but she doesn't know how to show it due to not having developed communication skills compared to neurotypical people. A fair amount of autistic people are not shy people that don't care about you, they just have a different way of speech and communication. 2 autistic people can talk vastly different from each other. It is a spectrum after all. There are some who may have low empathy, but they are not psychopaths who don't care about human life. It's really, really weird to think that and kind of damaging to see autistic people in that kind of light.

Marie is also known to be a picky eater and despises vegetables, refuses to eat the ends of bread loafs, hates tomatoes and pineapple on pizza. (she's literally me holy shit...) some autistic people can have sensory issues when it comes to certain textures and smells and vegetables usually have a weird texture compared to meats and other food groups. They can be seen as "picky eaters" that don't wanna try anything but, some autistic people genuinely cannot eat certain foods and may get sick in the stomach if they see that food and would rather eat anything else. You cannot get me to eat carrots, like I'm sorry but that's not happening buddy. I don't care if they are baked or boiled, i refuse to put that shit in my mouth.

She was also on team order like Marina as she likes to keep things nice and tidy like with most autistic people. Not all but most.

A little tidbit i wanna add as well is that since Splatoon 2, Marie has been seen holding an parasol and for seemingly no reason. Some may say she holds it to seem more professional, however i think she has it around because she likes to hold it in her hands and use it to fidget with, much like Harmony with the Ultra Hand. You can see her spin it around when you stay around her for a little bit in Splatoon 3's story mode. Although I might be looking too deeply into this but i think it might be a cute little detail.

I find it really fantastic that Splatoon not only has good representations of autism, but it's also pretty diverse and shows different elements of the spectrum. Not every single aspect of the spectrum as there isn't an example of a high needs autistic character in Splatoon that I can think of unfortunately, but if you can think of a character who may be in the high needs category of the spectrum then let me know, however we got a pale skinny sea anemone who runs a general store and uses an Ultra Hand to fidget with, a tall black woman who's extremely passionate about machinery and technology, and a Japanese squid woman who would rather eat a Splattershot than a tomato. (Callie and Marie are based off of Japanese culture, look at their clothing and styles of music. If they were humans they would not be white women, sorry to break it to you bud.)

Before this ends i wanna say, if you disagree with me then that's fine. I get it. They aren't canonically confirmed to be on the autism spectrum and a lot of this is just speculation and observation. However don't be a fucking dick about it okay? Don't say that i don't know anything about autism and that I'm crazy and dumb. Don't do that shit. Seriously. I am allowed to look deeper into these characters and find relatability and comfort in them. Don't try to make me feel like a freak for this.

Anyways if i did get something wrong about autism let me know in a fair and polite way. I am human and I'm gonna make mistakes, but don't be a dickhead about it, k? Good. Have a goodnight or good day wherever you live.

[zebulontheplanet]

most of the autism stuff i encounter (as a low-support autistic person) revolves pretty much exclusively around ppl with low-support needs, who can easily pass for non-autistic, who don't get diagnosed until well into adulthood bc they look "normal," which maps pretty well onto my own experience (except i was diagnosed very young) but it only represents a fraction of the autistic community. so your blog was a really nice find.

a few questions:

when your aac device runs out of battery, what are your alternatives? are you able to write stuff down instead?

what's the purpose of plaintext? who does it accommodate?

i know when it comes to individuals, you're supposed to ask them whether they prefer to be called nonspeaking or nonverbal, but which do i use as an umbrella term? how do i refer to them as a group? (maybe this is a pointless question bc you're only one person but i'm still curious)

sorry if i misspoke or said anything offensive, like i said i've been inundated with mostly low-support perspectives and today was basically my first time finding anything else

Hello anon! Glad to see you here. I’ll try my best to answer your questions.

If my AAC battery runs out, then I can use my phone. I have my apps on my phone as well for backup. But let’s say my phone and AAC are out of battery, I’d use my partners/caregivers phone, which they have a AAC app downloaded on and the notes app, which I could use to communicate. But let’s say my AAC is dead, my phones dead, and I’m not with my caregiver or my caregivers phone is dead. I’d be shit out on luck. Unless we had a pen and paper with us, I wouldn’t be able to communicate at all besides grunts, pointing, and leading. So yeah, those are very important. It’s very important to have things charged at all times.

Plaintext is important for those with cognitive and intellectual disability. Why? Because some of us can’t understand complicated text. I am one of those people. Some of it I can understand? But a lot of it I can’t. Plaintext is very important and is an accessibility tool. This just doesn’t stop at cognitive and intellectually disabled folk. Many people benefit from plaintext.

This is a hard one, and one I cannot not fully answer because each person will say something different. If someone was to use an umbrella term around me personally, I’d prefer them to use nonverbal. But some people prefer that people use nonspeaking. Again, it all depends and it’s a hard question. Just go with the flow and see what those around you prefer.

Anyways, I hope this helps! If you have any further questions then let me know. Have a lovely day anon!

[lunamoon-101]

Personally, I prefer not to use labels. But I'm fine with others using it for themselves and stuff.

Edit: Yk after some thinking I feel like yeah things like support labels are deffo useful when they are not being used to put some people's needs below others - that was the main reason why I didn't like it, but I think if used well instead of as "well you're low-support so you should be able to do that", they are actually good tools.

[scarlet-titan]

There is a real problem with lateral ableism in the autistic community. Low support needs people are so hard on those with higher support needs. Or to just say autistic people with certain skills are awful to other autistic people without those same skills. I'm not going to use names to avoid sending hate to anyone but recently someone who was diagnosed as a toddler posted a video of them happy stimming while watching Bluey. Many comments were like "I'm autistic and this is faking." "I'm autistic and this is why people call us the r-slur." "I'm autistic and this is why autistic people will continue to be abused for the next 20 years." (General "you" here) Being autistic doesn't erase the ableism from these statements. Our ableist society taught you to be uncomfortable with obvious autistic behavior, it was likely trained out of you. So when you see someone who can't mask or at least can't mask as well as you are uncomfortable. It is still ableism; ableism that was ingrained into you. I've recently seen autistic people shamed for complaining about New Year's Eve fireworks (while wearing ear defenders so it wasn't like they didn't try anything), not using the right "tone" or words coming off wrong because they are literal speakers and it happened from other autistic people. Like you think there be some understanding. But it's like "I overcame that problem so you should too." Ignoring it's a spectrum and yeah it's likely a bigger struggle for them than it was for you. Look at first glance, people aren't going to guess I'm autistic. I somewhat pass for NT and I have a certain amount of privilege there. But I'm not going to tell the person who is incontinent that they are "making autistic people look bad." No, ableists need to stop looking down on needing help for a disability.

[creacherkeeper]

yall, its finally happening ... getting my tits shot off is simply so within my grasp 😭

i'm getting top surgery on january 8th 2024 and im so excited and so scared but im being so so brave about it

though i've tried saving the funds myself for years now, emergencies keep wiping them away, like vet bills, emergency moves, wage theft, a con artist roommate, you name it, its happened in the last two years. i never wanted to have to rely on crowdfunding for something so vital and important to me, but now that it's here im really calling on my community to help support me

top surgery is not only a dream come true as far as having a body i can finally call home, but also with living in one of the most conservative states in the bible belt as a trans, gay, autistic, disabled, jewish man, its a matter of safety as well. temperatures frequently reach 115f/46c in the summer here, and with some of my health problems, binding isnt always feasible in that kind of heat. but not binding also means i risk getting clocked, and i don't think i need to tell yall how bad that could go for me

i've really been scraping by on low wages for years as a social worker and now as a graduate teaching assistant. and the previously aforementioned vet bills, con artists, etc have just really squashed any hope i had for paying for this myself

it's not easy for me to ask for help, but it would genuinely mean the world if yall could share this around. i know this is the webbed site of unemployed disabled people and broke college students but every little bit helps

if not for me then please do it for my nanny, a 10 year old pit bull who simply loves to step directly on my tits and would really appreciate if i didnt weep and wail every time she did it

[ID: a photo of a tan pit bull wearing blue spaced-themed pajamas.]

godspeed little gay people in my phone and thank you!!

[cripplecharacters]

Feel free not to answer this question as it's more a research-type question, I'm just not sure how to go about finding what I need: do you happen to know any fiction books with portrayals of medium to high support autistic people that are considered realistic and positive? All I can find is rep of low support autistic ppl (unless it's in semi-educational children's books) and it's making it harder to figure out how to write medium to high support autistic ppl myself.

Hello!

When I was diagnosed, it was before the levels were used (Or at least before they were used where I lived). I suspect that I would be considered 'level one autistic' today but would likely have been 'level two', bridging into 'level three' as a child. This is all just to explain my perspective with this.

That being said, here are some of my recommendations:

A Step Toward Falling by Cammie McGovern

I just finished this book earlier today and while it isn't specifically about autistic characters, it does feature several autistic characters with high support needs as well as other disabled characters. The book is written from the perspective of two characters, one of which is developmentally disabled (Belinda). Although her disability is never specified, I do see a lot of autistic traits in Belinda. The premise of this book is a bit heavy. It's about two characters (Who are not disabled) who end up volunteering at a centre for adults with developmental disabilities. One of the things I appreciated about this book was how well rounded the characters are. Each of them has their own stories, interests, and ideas. I also like how it discussed sex and relationships in the context of people with developmental disabilities. Something to note is that this does have some sensitive topics such as ableism, sexual assault, and bullying. It is also written by a parent of an autistic child but, as far as I'm aware, the author herself is abled. I did have some conflicted feelings about specific parts of it but I'll leave that for you to make your own decisions about. Target Audience: Young Adult

How to Speak Dolphin by Ginny Rorby

I also read this book recently and I personally really disliked it. There were several scenes that made me feel very gross and I found that the autistic character was dehumanized very often. One line that stuck with me was another character about a blind character, essentially saying, "I thought she was going to drown herself. If I was blind, that's what I would do." Although the character does get to know the blind character and changes her mind, it really felt awful to read and seemed so unnecessary -- especially given the target audience. The way it talks about blindness in general bugs me. That being said, I have seen several autistic people recommending the book (Which was why I read it in the first place) so I'll include it here anyways since my opinion seems to be in the minority around this book. Target Audience: Elementary/Middle Schoolers This is a brief review from another autistic person. [Link]

Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos

This book centers around Nova, a young autistic girl with high support needs. Nova is a foster child who is missing her older sister and the story is told through a mix of narrative, letters to Nova's sister, and flashbacks. It's been a while since I've read this book but I remember really enjoying it (And maybe crying a little bit too). The author is autistic herself and also consulted many other autistic people with a variety of experiences, which I appreciated. Target Audience: Middle Schoolers This is a more in-depth review on the book from a reader who (I believe) is also autistic. [Link]

These are also a couple books that I've seen recommended but can't personally recommend as I haven't read them myself yet:

Real by Carol Cujec

Remember Dippy by Shirley Reva Vernick

I know it's not very much but hopefully it's enough to get you started! If anyone has any recommendations for anon, feel free to mention them in the notes.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Hi, so i'm autistic, and i was wondering if others felt the same way about the label "high functioning" to describe having less needs than those who have more difficulties on the spectrum.

I personally don't like the term, as it's typically used to dismiss our needs, and has made headway for people after hearing i have "high functioning" autism to just say i'm using excuses, or i'm not actually autistic because i'm "high functioning" i also don't feel like i'm high functioning either, i feel very lost and confused about everything, and haven't been able to get the help i need because i'm so "high functioning" in others' eyes.

So yeah, do other people also dislike the term high-functioning? And would they be be willing to explain why they dislike it, or even why they don't dislike it?

Also, if you answer this, thank you very much, i'm often very confused and like hearing others' thoughts on things

Hi there,

I absolutely hate the term “high” and “low” functioning. Like…wtf does that even mean? How well you can function in society? That’s fucked to me.

There’s a level system now.

I have mixed feelings about the level system, but it’s so much better than those functioning labels.

My followers can provide their own opinions if they’d like.

I hope this helps answer your question. Thank you for the inbox. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. ♥️

[autism-culture-is]

Hi, and welcome to autism-culture-is! I was informed that the other autistic culture blog was inactive, so I figured hey, why not give this a go! :]

You probably already know the drill with culture blogs, just send an ask starting with "autistic culture is" and then I'll post it.

There's only one mod, you can just call me Mod A, A not standing for autism but it works out well. He/it pronouns. I'm an adult.

Few things to put out there:

Ableism of any kind will not be tolerated here. Obviously no ableism against autistic people and other neurodiversity, but also no ableism against more stigmatized mental illnesses like personality disorders or psychosis, ableism against intellectual disabilities, or ableism against physical disabilities.

Other types of bigotry also get the boot, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, fatphobia, antisemitism. Also no exclusionist crap.

Don't send in asks about "going nonverbal" or "going semiverbal", those terms are meant to describe permanent states and people who are always nonverbal or semiverbal are against using these terms to describe temporary states. Use terms like speech loss or verbal crash instead.

Autism isn't fundamentally different based on gender or sex, so please avoid terms like "male/female autism" or "amab/afab autism".

Please don't use the word cr*ppling, as it's a slur against physically disabled people. Say debilitating instead for things like "debilitating anxiety".

If you send an ask with media, please put an image description with if you're able to. If you're not, I'll give it one, but it's easier for me if the asker gives the image description.

Please let me know if there's anything that I should be doing better regarding disability stuff. I'm level 1 autistic, verbal, and with low support needs, so I may not always be aware of certain issues.

That's all for now! Happy autisming!

[overdramaticpanromantic]

why do people think endogenic systems aren't real?

disclaimer: i am not a system nor am i part of one, and i am not able to speak for those who are. this is an opinion, and i would like constructive feedback on said opinion. i do not want hate mail or people screaming at me, i have had enough of that this week.

i do not get why people think endogenic systems aren't real. the argument i see most is that if it's not based on trauma (i.e. traumagenic) then it's not real, but i disagree.

firstly, many mental conditions can arise from non-traumatic experiences, and trauma is not a necessary catalyst for these things. i'm autistic, though i can't speak for others (because my support needs are very low) as a result of how i was raised, but not in a traumatic way. i've asked around a bit about this, and it seems that part can be agreed upon, in that mental conditions do not have to result from trauma.

secondly, i have not noticed any differences, aside from trauma or lack thereof, when speaking to those who are a system or part of a system. i cannot know what is going on in other people's heads, but i can look at how people generally act, and i do not notice any difference, though the sample size is low (about 5) so this could be coincidence. i might ask in passing conversation, "how does being a system work?" out of curiosity. they explain, and the explanations from traumagenic and endogenic systems, or members of said systems, are fairly uniform and don't seem to contrast very much, aside from individual mannerisms such as how it may present itself, which is bound to be subjective for any mental condition.

thirdly, i don't like the logic the argument as a whole operates on. if non-traumagenic systems aren't real, isn't that similar to the argument wherein people say non-dysphoric trans people aren't real, or that self-diagnosed neurodivergencies (e.g. autism, adhd, bpd, tourette's, dyslexia, and others as well, but i can't list a ton of them off the top of my head) aren't real. this is medical essentialist, or medicalist, logic, and it doesn't hold up very well under pressure. it frequently takes the form of when someone doesn't want to acknowledge that not everyone is like them, and most commonly presents itself in those who are bigoted in other ways, such as racism.

fourthly, when conversing about it, the reactions i get from either type of person are very different (sample size of about 40 here, so again, it's not entirely conclusive) if i ask someone who's anti-endogenic about it (what the point of the argument is, for instance), i am met with hostility and yelling, whilst if i ask someone who is pro-endogenic about it, i am met with straightforward explanations and my questions being answered. ultimately, it isn't one's duty to answer questions for others, but if one side of a debate refuses to answer questions and another is able to answer questions, then typically, the side refusing to answer questions is wrong. for example, flat-earthers will refuse to argue a lot of the time, and other times, they will mention various buzzphrases such as "water finds its level," and "density and buoyancy," which is a phenomenon i have noticed coming from some (but few) anti-endogenics.

that's what i've gathered from my observations, and i wanted to share this for the reason that i want to understand more, and particularly why some people think the things they do - in that they don't believe a particular group of people exists. to cap it off, i'll attach a poll below, asking what people think regarding this.

if you want to help the poll get more entries, then you can reblog this post or share it with friends. thank you for reading!

[martha-autie]

Levels are important and so is using them correctly.

There is a misunderstanding about levels that borders on abelist. Some of you may have seen others say "levels are harmful to low support needs autistics" or "some days I'm level 1, some days I'm level 2 and some days I'm level 3".

These statements are harmful for an assortment of reasons and I plan to discuss some of those today.

First:

Levels are not inherently harmful to lower aupport needs autistics the idea that level 1 means no support needs, is not built into the level system. Level 1s require support, level 2s require moderate support, level 3 requires a lot of support. Instead of attacking the level system, the focus should be on addressing the incorrect belief that level 1s don't need any support. For moderate and high support needs people, levels can be invaluable. It can be very difficult for me, a level 2, to explain how my autism effects me. Being able to tell my doctors and the government, that I am a level 2 takes the pressure of trying to verbalize how my disability impacts me. If you can explain how your autism effects you that's great but many of us cant and that is why levels are important. It is shorthand for low, moderate and high support needs people who cannot put into words how autism impacts them.

Some may say that level 1s will be denied services due to misconceptions, this could be possible, though I know level 1s on SSI and such. However, the diagnostic criteria notes level 1 autistic people need supports as well. The level system is very beneficial for many moderate and high support needs people and the problem that some level 1s bring up are the fault of misconceptions of the level system that would be better addressed by educating those who think level 1s don't need support, than by attacking the level systems.

Second:

"Some days I'm level 1, some days I'm level 2 and some days I'm level 3".

Is a perplexing and disturbing saying. Many people, often level 1s, use this phrase to refer to their bad days and in argument against the level system. Some will say levels are useless because "some days I'm level 1, some days I'm level 2 and some days I'm level 3". They are referring to how stressful, difficult, or painful a particular day is and conflating it with levels , not referring to an actual level change.

This is problematic because that isn't how levels work. It is also insulting because it implies that level 2 and 3s are always having bad days and that our level is a state of a bad day. It also implies that if level 2 and 3s had better days or better environments they would become level 1s. This gives an unrealistic impression of how varying degrees of autism works and contributes to misinformation that can harm the autistic community.

I would like to share an example of something a low support need autistic person said about high support needs people "they have tricked everyone into thinking they can't do more so everyone does everything for them". This horrible statement is fueled by the idea that levels are just a measurement of good and bad days. I am a level 2, I am not the imbodiment of a moderately bad day, I am autistic person who needs moderate support. Please think hard the next time you say "some days I'm level 1, some days I'm level 2 and some days I'm level 3". And ask yourself, what that statement really implies.

[autistic-duck]

(Very long post, sorry.)

I had an experience with a college professor last semester that really got me thinking about academics and ableism, specifically in college writing.

A few months ago, my class was having an open discussion, and I brought up an opinion that had been on my mind for a while.

I basically said, "There's a gap between college-level writing and the average person's reading level that we need to fill. Nobody should need to look up words every three seconds to understand a study that could affect their life, so we either need more people to rewrite these studies for the general public to understand, or these studies, in general, should be published with language that isn't so complicated."

My professor responded by saying something like, "Sure, that's a good goal. However, wouldn't a better goal be to raise the average person's reading level so that everyone can understand college-level writing?"

I (in my frantic and confused way) tried to bring up the fact that there are people born at a disadvantage in life. In fact, getting everyone to a perfect college reading level isn't a realistic goal. It certainly isn't for me, and I don't want it to have to be for other people. In fact, the professor who told me this also struggled to understand the chapters we were assigned to read in that class.

Really, it all comes down to this: college-level language is inaccessible.

Even more importantly, many people will never be able to understand most of the huge words thrown around in college writing.

At school, I am constantly told my writing style is "simple" and "easy to understand." This is something my classmates have told me isn't "bad" but just "different." However, I'm still insecure whenever someone mentions it because it is always pointed out. I use a smaller vocabulary, they seem to say, but don't worry. It's just a preferred writing style, they reassure me. They think the simple language is a choice I could stop at any time.

Well, what if it isn't just a "style"? What if I struggle to expand my vocabulary? Learning one new word takes me ages because I need to see it in all kinds of contexts. Even then, oftentimes "context clues" are no help, and I completely misinterpret the meaning of a word for years because it seems like every other native English speaker knew what it meant without needing to say it. A lot of the time I'll read the definition of a new word and instantly forget it after finishing the sentence it was in.

So yeah, I'll say it with pride: Simple words are powerful. Simple words are beautiful. And most importantly, simple words are not inferior in any way to words like "quintessential" or "expedient." (I have no idea what either of those words mean even though I've looked them up plenty of times and used them accurately in essays before.)

Simplicity is why I like shows meant for all ages better than shows meant only for adults. Because in shows that are written with children in mind, there aren't confusing messages you have to spend energy untangling. There aren't unnecessary analogies or feelings that are "implied" but never said. The characters' facial expressions and emotions are easy to read and the moments where I am confused are rare.

Now, this is all coming from an autistic person with low support needs. My reading comprehension score is considered slightly above average, and so is my problem-solving abilities which means I am lucky and I can understand a lot of what I read in college. The main point of this little "essay" was to point out a common conversation I despise hearing in college, the one about simple language and its implied inferiority.

Because guess what? Language is not accessible to everybody. Many of us, even those with high reading comprehension, struggle.

Our goal should never be to make everyone capable of reading college-level books and studies. That is asking for those who need accommodations to accommodate themselves, something I'm sure other disabled people are tired of having to do. Instead, the goal should be making college language more accessible, making knowledge accessible. After all, the reader is only a fragment of the conversation. The writer is the majority of it.

TLDR; Everyone deserves access to language and knowledge that makes sense, and bigger words never mean they are better.

[zebulontheplanet]

hi! hope you're having a good day! i would like to ask a question. it's something you've talked about before, i'm pretty sure. but what do you think or feel when people say, "visibly autistic doesn't exist?" i saw a post on reddit talking about how you can't be visibly autistic, and it ticked me off. i myself am not quite visibly autistic (i am low support needs, probably level one but no official diagnosed level), and i would like to hear from someone who has higher support needs than i. of course, absolutely no pressure to answer! you are not obligated to talk about this at all. thanks for your time!

Hi anon! I think this is a very important topic and I’ve talked about it in the past as well.

Honestly, it pisses me off. Because it ignores a HUGE population of autistic people. A lot more autistic people are higher support needs than people think. I think it was said that 26% of autistic people have “severe” autism? Or around that number. Although that doesn’t include those with medium support needs, and the likes.

When people are saying that “autism is invisible” they’re ignoring people like my friends and me. They’re ignoring those of us who do look autistic, who do need care in everyday life, who are visibly autistic. And it pisses me off when people say it. It’s 100% ignorance. Ignorance towards those who are higher support needs and low masking. And even those who ARE lower support needs and low masking, which is a thing.

Low masking autism, visible autism, is a thing. And people love to acknowledge it until it doesn’t fit their quirky idea of autism. Until it doesn’t fit the silly hand flapping and being “quirky”. When it doesn’t fit that, when it involves violent meltdowns, needing help using the bathroom, needing help every single day with “basic” things, suddenly it doesn’t exist to them. It isn’t possibly autism, it’s something else. It’s intellectual disability, it’s this, it’s that, it just isn’t autism. It can’t possibly be autism, right? /sarcasm

It annoys me so much, and I think more people need to talk to higher support needs, low masking individuals. They need to talk to them. They need to expand their social media coverage and friend groups. They need to see these things and believe it, because autistic people are here, and they’re visibly autistic. One autistic person isn’t going to look the same, they’re going to have different needs, but that doesn’t mean that autism doesn’t have a look for some.

[musashi]

Pffff you sure do manage to piss a lot of people off, and not know why or how. Perhaps you should look inward.

i'd love to look inward, unfortunately these people i piss off never actually give me anything to work with. they'll say like "wendy, you eat babies" and then i say "can i have an example of when you saw me eat a baby" and then they block and ghost me and i go to my friends like "hey, did you ever see me eating babies? i'm trying to figure this out" and they all unanimously are like "uh no we never saw anything like that??? you did look at a baby once, maybe someone misunderstood???" and then five years pass and the person mad at me for eating babies leaves a long apology in my inbox and i connect with them through DMs and say "i'm just still confused. can you explain the thing where you said i ate babies? like do you remember what made you say that?" and without fail every time they reply "i don't know man, it just seemed right to say at the time."

i'm actually quite interested in bettering myself, and a great deal of my vent posts on here DO end with "i just don't understand" because of that desire. but i think a lot of people really do just forget that i am autistic and a huge part of autism is needing very clear examples of situations/behaviour/whatever. asking lots of questions, receiving lots of clarification, etc. with how mean and quick to abandon people have gotten on the internet lately, no one wants to give me that actionable feedback, or sit with me and help me understand what i might have done wrong/inelegantly. most of them just get angry, take my "maybe we should sit on this and come back to it later?" as an insult, and block me without answer.

currently, the person maligning me fully believes that i'm not "disabled" enough, claims i am "low support," and quite literally said "all [wendy's] symptoms [of disability] improve their life." i think this is very telling of a larger picture--people see how well i hide my cracks, how i boast my function, and how happy i am despite being disabled and file me away in their head as an arrogant neurotypical who is a little bit quirky.

but i would like to remind you, anon, that i am autistic. i am disabled. my social functioning is atypical. my way of understanding myself, my actions, and how those all mesh with the people i share a space with is atypical. "look inward" is great advice, and though I think you were trying to be mean, i welcome it with open arms! however, "look inward" only helps when i have additional help to guide me toward what exactly inward i am looking for. so, in this case, it is a little misguided.

if anyone who KNOWS ME PERSONALLY NOT ON TUMBLR who hates my fucking guts would like to give me some examples of how i act/talk/exist and why it makes them want to set a library on fire i am always, at any given moment, eagerly awaiting that feedback. but currently, the feedback is "none at all." every single person who has had a problem with me for the last half-decade of my life has simply blown up on me over things i did not do/intend/understand, or hardblocked me without a conversation and left me clueless as to what i did wrong.

until someone (friend or foe) is willing to actually communicate with me instead of being a sniveling coward, i will never know where inward to look. them's the breaks!

[youdontlookautistic]

Autistics and the terms 'low and high functioning' vs my preferred replacement 'low and high support needs.'

Been thinking over why these terms don't work for me specifically, not just because the terms stem from a Nazi dude. Why does it feel invalidating when I hear someone ask if I'm a low or high functioning autistic?

As it stands I do not function well on a day to day basis. This is because I don't have what I need to be able to do that. My executive dysfunction is at a high. This has not always been the case. I've run my own business successfully for over twelve years, I've had stability and a family and a career and all of that. Then the support disappeared, carpet ripped out from under me, I was left on my own and I crashed and hated I couldn't get on top of my life and didn't understand why. Because I spent many years living and working and passing as neurotypical.

The concept of the statement "you are low functioning" negates all context and pigeonholes me. It gives the impression my function doesn't fluctuate.

1. Anyone would be low functioning if they experienced discrimination, lack of understanding, and lack of support.

2. If I announce myself as low function, I'm trying to convey information as fast as possible. Assuming someone is set at their function level allows no flexibility or space to recognize otherwise.

3. Function is specific to the situation, as a reflection of the persons support and capability. In some areas I'm more than functional, I excel.

It just feels like the term puts me in a category that I can't be because that category fluctuates. I don't go into a job interview saying "I'm a low functioning autistic." I mean I could if I wanted to get the door shut in my face.

But by stating that then I'm projecting an expectation for them and that is, by its nature, a lie.

Example: Anyone on the edge of homelessness, who experienced abuse, and lives in poverty would be at a 'low function' state when applying for said job. But that job would supply the support that person needs to be 'high functioning.' So does anyone in an interview ever say that? No. Because it's generally understood that, given the right support, stability follows. Function follows.

On the other side:

Stating I'm a high support needs person is more accurate. It immediately establishes the question "What do you need to be able to live at the same functional level as others?" it doesn't diminish my function or ability, it acknowledges that with the right support the function works just fine.

Cars run on all different kinds of fuel. Because one runs on petrol, and the other electricity, doesn't mean one is less functional than the other. It provides the same function with different fuel. The question is "What kind of gas does it take, and how much?"

It starts with talking to me like an equal, not 'less or more' able to function. It starts with the expectation that I function fine, and explores what I need to be that way. As with anyone.

And also in doing so, eliminates any positions for being taken advantage of. Trauma and abuse happens to disabled people constantly. By using language and verbiage that lifts us up is vital.

There's a lot of other history out there regarding these terms and I'm always learning so much. But I wanted to figure this out for myself, why it made me so uncomfortable to hear. Well, now I know!