I was scrolling through some posts that are by other autistic individuals. And I found myself rolling my eyes at a pattern; whether it's in a humorous or pitying tone, there were multiple posts about how 'othering' it feels to be autistic. "People think I'm wierd", "no-one wants to be my friend", "I missed a social cue and offended someone/came across as rude", "I was bullied because I'm autistic", "people are mean/unkind to me because I'm autistic"
There's been a lot of the same attitudes on my feeds, where the humor feels very self-deprecating and makes it seem like how the world is just out victimise anyone who's autistic.
And I was annoyed by this because I've had the extreme privilege of being surrounded by people who are kind. Who see my autism traits as just another endearing part of me. I'm also extraverted and my mask is designed to make me come across as someone who's very socially adept. In short, I've never been bullied enough for it to permanently color my view of the world.
But that's also why I wanted to bring up this kind of content. Yes, abuse and bullying is statistically more likely to be directed towards neurodivergent people, whether directly because of that difference or with it being a factor. Therefore, this shared experience amongst a majority in the community is going to manifest itself through the discourse we have online, and perhaps in person.
Additionally, negativity tends to float to the top of our feeds. Misery loving company and all that. We commiserate on the bad experiences because suffering is a great equaliser, making joy seem like a rare luxury by comparison. A longwinded way of saying that baiting empathy gets you engagement which creates a loop of amplifying negativity. And sometimes it can overload your nervous system so much that the only recourse is apathy, which is what I experienced.
All this to say that: if your feed is making you feel like the world is against you, know that it is by design. That it's a false reality. There are ignorant people in this world. Discrimination and ableism is very real. However, there is a lot of good in this world. I mentioned that I have the privilege of experiencing kindness, but it really is not the rare commodity the Internet pretends it is. Positivity is a powerful thing.
Just some perspective for thought ig. K baiii
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