11 Things Not To Say To An Autistic Person

2 'Everyone's a little autistic'

No, you are not autistic because you are a perfectionist and can't handle that a line is not entirely straight. I've actually heard people say things like this in real life. 'I can't look at this line that isn't straight because it makes me autistic.'

I don't know how this is in the rest of the world but in my country there is a trend among many of my friends and peers to say about every little thing that bothers them: 'I can't handle this I am autistic.'

And it makes me sooo mad. This is what angers me most in the world. First of all, because they use a neurological disorder to point out some quirks they have and to laugh about it with their friends. And second of all, because they clearly don't have the slighest idea what autism is and the struggles people with autism go through every day.

Saying 'everyone's a little autistic so it's no big deal' is like saying to someone who has cancer: 'everybody gets ill so it's no big deal.'

The only difference is that if I would ever say such thing to someone with cancer people would most likely accuse me of being rude while saying that everyone is autistic apparently is completely accepted in our society. And since most people do not know I am autistic they have no problem saying it. Here are some true examples:

Once I was working with a friend(who, to be clear, definitely does not have autism) of mine on a school project and we were about to take a seat at the table. I was standing on the left so naturally I sat down at the left table and she said to me: 'I always sit on the left when we're in this classroom, my autism can't handle it when I sit on the right.' Though these things irritate me I always take this as an opportunity to go into a deeper discussion with them a little. So I looked at her and asked: 'Why does it bother you? Does it really matter?' To which she answered: 'No but autism isn't about if something matters or not.' So I replied: 'it's also not about this.' She looked at me and said: 'what do you even know about it?' That was my cue to stop because I knew that if we went into discussion about it I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut.

Another time I was chilling with four of my friends from high school, including the one that already knew. Two others were getting hungry so one of them grabbed a bag of chips. As she wanted to open it the other shouted: 'You're opening it on the wrong side. You need to turn it around otherwise it makes me very autistic.' I shared a look with the friend that already knew and she also knew that this iritated me. And being my provocative self I grabbed the bag out of my friends hand and opened it on the wrong side right it front of her eyes while saying: 'Well then you better get used to it'. She looked at me but didn't argue about what I did and just started to eat her chips.

These two anecdotes really show how people are oblivious to the fact that they are using a very serious disorder just because they don't know any better. If people actually knew in how many ways autism affects us, it would be much more understanding.

What I usually do when people say these things as you can read above is seeking for a small opening to start a discussion. Not to tell them they are wrong or they need to shut up, but just to let them think a little longer about what they said. Because that's usually the problem: people blurt it out without thinking.