NO being autistic does not mean i don’t feel emotions or that i’m a robot or that i’m a misunderstood genius. it means i talk too loud sometimes, i can quote almost all of star trek 2009 from memory, and i can’t wear a shirt if it has the wrong kind of tag now leave me alone

all the explicit autistic rep in media is so annoying. entrapta works for the villain, has no regard for human life, and is LITERALLY kept on a leash and treated like a child. alec lightwood, zuko, and luke and leia from star wars are much better representations of autistic

or adhd people at least when it comes to me relating my own experiences and way of interesting with the world and they aren’t even MEANT to be autistic. catra and abed nadir from community too. i’m so sick of the only metric for autism in media being a cold computer-like genius

if you’re genuinely curious about knowing what autism is actually like to experience, the best i can explain it is i feel like i’m on the wrong radio frequency as everyone else. i DO feel, quite deeply and quite a lot, but it’s like my emotions are in a different language as+

everyone else so they don’t understand what i’m feeling and i don’t always pick up on what other people are feeling. learning how to translate my feelings in a way neurotypical people can understand takes time and practice

i’m bad at reading social cues, sometimes people think i’m uninterested or don’t like them when i care very much and i don’t know how to subtly communicate that i do, i say things i’m supposed to say quietly too loud, i can be very blunt and accidentally offend ppl because what +

i perceive as stating facts (ie “you are older and get tired often, do you want me to take over your shift/job?” or i would state rude facts about other classmates “your handwriting is bad, you should let me draw the poster” “your backpack is ugly” “you’re bad at this game” etc)+

offend the people i’m talking to because when i was younger i didnt realize why they got upset about it. i still slip up sometimes and it’s well meaning but i say things about people’s decorations, opinions, skills, age etc without realizing i might hurt their feelings

or i miss nonverbal cues. when people are pulling a prank or tricking someone and i contradict them and accidentally give them away and ruin the joke because i don’t realize what they’re doing, even if they give me looks or little hand motions to tell me to shut up

it’s not that i don’t care about people’s feelings, it’s quite the opposite. i want them to like me and to make them happy, but it’s like i’m feeling around in the dark for the right response that will make them happy

if you’re a neurotypical writer or creator and you want to make a neurodivergent character PLEASE for the love of god actually talk to an autistic person. don’t just base their whole character off of what other neurotypical people have told you or research articles online

it’s just really frustrating that the best nd rep is unintentional. it tells me u know autistic/adhd ppl and how they act u just don’t know they are bc u have such a set idea of what it looks like in ur head and they don’t fit it so u just assume they’re quirky or different