"Diary" of an Autistic

Debunking autism myths UPDATED

Hey. I was thinking a lot about this, and I figured it's time I did a chapter on this.

Misconception 1: "You don't look autistic."

Autism isn't a "look" or a "body type" or any of that shiz. It's a mental condition. One cannot tell if someone is autistic just by looking at them. I mean, my best friend Lukas is practically a string of string cheese whereas I'm a big ol' poundcake, and we're both autistic. Shoutout to LukasAppleMlp, btw.

Misconception 2: "What's your special ability?"

Not all autistics are like Sheldon Cooper. That's a stereotype. It's a spectrum, so every autistic is different. Some autistics have special abilities, others don't, but "special abilities" don't define an autistic person. Also, I'm crap at math, so please don't ask me to do the times table. #sorrynotsorry

Misconception 3: "Everyone is a little autistic."

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Wrong! Remember the 5 senses? The ones all teachers have to teach in school? Well, those teachers lied. You actually have 6 and let me tell you about the 6th sense. It's called theory of mind, and this sense helps people to understand everyone's thought processes. Autistics lack theory of mind to some degree, and some lack it altogether.

Autistics who only lack some degree of theory of mind take longer to understand one's thought process and autistics who completely lack theory of mind have to rely on other people's body language, and sometimes people lie with their body language, so that sends mixed messages, so if you don't lack theory of mind to some degree, you're not "a little autistic" period.

Pro tip: if you have someone with autism in your life, don't lie with your body language. Chances are that autistic person will take it literally, so when in doubt, tell the truth. They might be able to help you out.

Misconception 4: "Autistic people can't feel empathy."

To anyone that has ever said that to an autistic person: here's your empathy!
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I'm sorry, but that really pisses me off. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I just wanted you to see how I feel. Anyways, I'm getting off track.

In my experience, autistic people can feel empathy, sometimes too much of it. My sister is very empathetic. Whenever she hears me cry, she comes to cuddle with me and love me up. She doesn't always understand why I'm crying or the complexity of the situation, but she knows I'm crying and she knows the emotions I'm feeling when I cry, and she wants to make me feel better every time I'm crying and feeling negatively. If that's not empathy, then I'm the queen of France. Oh, wait! France doesn't have a monarchy! 😱😱😱

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LukasAppleMlp is also autistic and he's one of the most empathetic people in this life. He's always been there when I'm sad or scared or angry and understands why I'm feeling the way I feel every time and he always tries to share the experience with me and take a load off my shoulders, whether he's been in a similar situation or not. Lukas, if you're reading this right now, you're my best friend and my hero, and I love you as much as I love my dad and look up to you in the same way I looked up to him. Thanks for being my friend, helping me with my childhood trauma last night, sharing this account with me, putting up with my obsession with Disney's The Little Mermaid, accepting my invitation to see Phantom of the Opera, oh, forget the list! I just...thank you...you know...for everything... 🙂