Why many autistic people focus on that?

[Tired]

I see many people on the forum or just in the net focus on being autistic so much, it basically becomes their whole personality. They have "autistic" in their nicknames, wear "proud being autistic" shirts and stuff like that. For me it is the same if I would just go around saying how proud I am being a woman or neurotypical. It isn't the choice (like for example becoming a doctor or a mother and being proud of that), so I am confused to why is it so important to some people for everyone to know that they are autistic.

I am not judging anyone, this just confuses me for years now and I didn't come to any answer, so I thought to finally ask.

 

[Judge]

The simplest explanation ?

It's a social dynamic relative to being in a minority. When you are sometimes singled out as being "different", and not in a kind way.

So some of us "compensate" accordingly. Which can apply to many types of minorities.

On rare occasions I may do something in public that for whatever reason annoys NTs. When I will turn to them and simply say, "Autistic children grow up to be autistic adults".

 

[Hazel_1914]

I see many people on the forum or just in the net focus on being autistic so much, it basically becomes their whole personality. They have "autistic" in their nicknames, wear "proud being autistic" shirts and stuff like that. For me it is the same if I would just go around saying how proud I am being a woman or neurotypical. It isn't the choice (like for example becoming a doctor or a mother and being proud of that), so I am confused to why is it so important to some people for everyone to know that they are autistic.

I am not judging anyone, this just confuses me for years now and I didn't come to any answer, so I thought to finally ask.

People are many layers deep, and the coolest people are very deep indeed. It is probably a fair question why people do this.

I am not qualified to attempt an answer. It would be wonderful if we were seen as more than just a label or collection of labels!

 

[Masked Man]

I feel like it's reclaiming an identity.

I personally don't feel like I do this, because I think I'm pretty much "passing" most of the time. My symptoms are very well hidden for the most part, but I do know others who aren't.

Like Judge said, people are not often kind. So I think it's being proud of who you are even when others aren't kind to you.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I had no inkling of knowledge as to why I was as weird as I was. While I began caring less about what people thought about me the older I got, I still tried to not show my weirdness so much. When I found that my oddities were autistic traits, I finally had a reason. While autism isn't some badge of honor that I could be proud to have earned, I do wish to use badges and shirts to let people know that autism isn't just a "kid thing".

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I did not know until mid fifties. explained so much, then after stroke found this site, other than that, Keep to myself let family know. If NT asks, not embarrassed, to explain why I'm weird, after all retired nothing to hide.

 

[Ghostinthemachine]

I see many people on the forum or just in the net focus on being autistic so much, it basically becomes their whole personality. They have "autistic" in their nicknames, wear "proud being autistic" shirts and stuff like that. For me it is the same if I would just go around saying how proud I am being a woman or neurotypical. It isn't the choice (like for example becoming a doctor or a mother and being proud of that), so I am confused to why is it so important to some people for everyone to know that they are autistic.

I am not judging anyone, this just confuses me for years now and I didn't come to any answer, so I thought to finally ask.

I have to agree woth you,its part of our self identity and helps mould it aa we develop it so why feel the need to differentiate it ?

 

[vergil96]

They want to belong. Like in high school, there are cliques based on which band you like, whether you belong to the sports teams, a band, the biology club (for nerds) etc.

 

[Jonn]

I see many people on the forum or just in the net focus on being autistic so much, it basically becomes their whole personality. They have "autistic" in their nicknames, wear "proud being autistic" shirts and stuff like that. For me it is the same if I would just go around saying how proud I am being a woman or neurotypical. It isn't the choice (like for example becoming a doctor or a mother and being proud of that), so I am confused to why is it so important to some people for everyone to know that they are autistic.

I am not judging anyone, this just confuses me for years now and I didn't come to any answer, so I thought to finally ask.

At times, I point out that I am on the spectrum because I am tired of the abuse I am confronted with.
We are often misunderstood, and that gives license for some to twist our social manners into something undesirable.

Why do so many NTs think they can get into the mind of NDs?
It is a two-way street.
We generally can't get into theirs, either.

 

[Jonn]

I feel like it's reclaiming an identity.

We don't have to be ashamed of who we are.
After all, no one chose to be on the spectrum.

And in every meaningful metric, we are different, not wrong.
Perhaps my Nihilism made me say that.

Apparently, diversity is OK for some but not others...

 

[Jonn]

I had no inkling of knowledge as to why I was as weird as I was. While I began caring less about what people thought about me the older I got, I still tried to not show my weirdness so much. When I found that my oddities differences were autistic traits, I finally had a reason. While autism isn't some badge of honor that I could be proud to have earned, I do wish to use badges and shirts to let people know that autism isn't just a "kid thing".

I corrected it for you.

 

[Hypnalis]

@Tired

A. Self-selection.
I created my first ever Aspie-centric username ever for AF, because I came here to interact with other ASDs.

B. Even without the self-selection effect, if you hadn't already been clear that you're NT, that question would have "outed" you immediately /lol. Very few (perhaps no) ASDs would need to ask.

It's extremely difficult for an NT to understand the way in which we're different, and why the differences matter.

That's not so relevant in this thread, but it's an accurate reflection of the scale of the difference between ASDs and NTs. We can communicate, and given time many of us can assimilate moderately well, but we're always outsiders, because NTs cannot empathize (**) with us.

Think of it this way: we're probably the largest identifiable group of humans that doesn't fit naturally into their local culture, and has considerable difficulty learning to get along within their culture.
(The second bit is to exclude e.g. the "Dark Triad", who fake and manipulate themselves into a culture they're similarly slightly outside.)

(**)
1. The meaning of "empathize" is currently being deliberately manipulated IRL. I use the original meaning - i.e. I didn't mean "sympathy".
2. The meaning of empathy isn't entirely stable even in AF, but I know I'm not alone is this

 

[AprilR]

Because before knowing autism i felt like i was defective and "naturally evil" and thats why people ignored me like the plague.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

In the US, we have a Gay Pride month, a Black History month... marginalized people taking back their identity with pride in some attempt to diminish the discrimination and attitudes of the past.

I am not a huge fan of any sort of cultural, religious, moral, or political "posturing"... generally speaking... but I do wear the "rainbow infinity" (as opposed to the Autism Speaks puzzle piece) symbol on my work ID lanyard. Most people have no clue what it means, except for others within our community.

 

[Mary Terry]

I see many people on the forum or just in the net focus on being autistic so much, it basically becomes their whole personality. They have "autistic" in their nicknames, wear "proud being autistic" shirts and stuff like that. For me it is the same if I would just go around saying how proud I am being a woman or neurotypical. It isn't the choice (like for example becoming a doctor or a mother and being proud of that), so I am confused to why is it so important to some people for everyone to know that they are autistic.

I am not judging anyone, this just confuses me for years now and I didn't come to any answer, so I thought to finally ask.

It's a website for people on the spectrum so many here focus almost exclusively on their autism. Most of the threads are devoted to specific issues - or pleasures - associated with autism. When threads are posted that are not devoted to specific autism issues, then I see a lot of participation from members with no mention of being autistic.

Long having been social underdogs and outcasts by virtue of their autism or their ignorance/frustration of why they act or feel as they do, it seems foreseeable that they would champion their autism once they know about it. It's like telling yourself that it's okay to be autistic. It's true that some members seem to have nothing to offer in comments other than the fact of their autism, perhaps attributable to their narrow, limited range of life experiences through no fault of their own. There will always be a couple of people who never go anywhere or post anything without their autism chip on their shoulder but that's okay with me. They, too, need an outlet and this place provides it.

We'd see the same behavior on forums devoted to being a woman, or a man, or LGBTQ, or a particular race, or nationality, or some other identifying characteristic.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

They want to belong. Like in high school, there are cliques based on which band you like, whether you belong to the sports teams, a band, the biology club (for nerds) etc.

Joining this forum is as close to a clique I have ever participated in.