this is related to a post i reblogged earlier but i think many allistics (especially ones who are on social media a lot) are starting to view autism as “yay flappy hands, cute stim toys, i’m so socially awkward owo” and not as, like, an actual life-changing disability. i don’t know if this is because they’re unaware of our struggles or because they’re choosing not to acknowledge them out of privileged guilt, or maybe it’s a combination of both. but when people’s only exposure to autism is the palatable and socially acceptable version of it, i.e. merely a set of quirky traits, they remain unsupportive of us when we need their help the most. because to them, that’s not the “autism” that they’ve been taught about on tiktok; it’s something unfamiliar, scary, and entirely different. and i hate it. i hate how everyone is all “yay autism” until we actually show symptoms of having a harder time functioning in society than other people do. i hate the way the aspects of autism that *are* talked about are just infantilized. it’s so infuriating how the actual hardships that come with being autistic are almost never talked about, in favor of looking at autistic joy like it is an exhibit at a zoo.