Hi everyone. I've decided it's time I speak up about an issue I feel seriously needs to be addressed. This is the use of autism as an insult towards certain groups of people. I'm usually very nice to people, especially online, but whenever I see comments where someone uses autism as an insult, it enrages me. I can’t stand it when haters label fandoms as ‘autistic’ just because they do things that are deemed socially abnormal. A friend of mine told me once, it’s not that most people are normal and some are weird, because everyone is different. Since everyone is different, technically everyone is weird, and since everyone is weird, being weird becomes quite normal.


There are people out there who look at fandom groups such as bronies and furries, and label them as ‘autistic’ just because they think people in those fandoms are socially awkward. This is far from the truth. People in ‘autistic’ fanbases are in reality just as sociable as everyone else, and just because the fandom is wrongly perceived to be unsociable, it categorically does not give people the right to label them as ‘autistic’.  People who use this as a label most likely have no idea what autism actually is, and this angers me further because it goes from a petty insult to actually misusing a word that carries a lot of meaning for a lot of people.


Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior. Autism lies on a spectrum ranging from low-functioning to high-functioning, describing the severity of the disorder. High-functioning individuals have clear autistic traits, but are otherwise able to function in society with help and support. They have a need for routines and repetitive patterns and tend to dislike changes in these things.


On the other hand, low-functioning people are severely impacted by the disorder and cannot do most tasks on their own. They need constant supervision and help with everyday activities, and react badly to small changes in routines and established patterns. I am high-functioning, so I’m not an alien who screams at slightly misaligned books, but I struggle to socialize and make new friends, I struggle to understand unspoken deeper meanings of words and phrases, and I insist on having an hour of downtime every day after school as part of my daily routine.


Not many people with any form of autism live independently as adults, but some are very successful, such as Walt Disney, Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein. Autism affects the way the brain is wired, altering the way nerve cells and synapses are connected and organized, meaning that people on the spectrum literally think differently to others. This allows them to come up with fresh ideas, something some aspects of today’s society really need.


My autism has shaped 95% of who I am today, and if people think it’s ok to use who I am as an insult, there is something fundamentally wrong with the world. Stop labelling groups of people you don’t like with words you don’t understand. Stop hating on people with different interests. If you see or hear something you don’t agree on, hate it privately, but don’t post
hateful comments or blogs ranting about how awful it is to like a certain cartoon or style of cosplay. These are not things to hate on. People should hate on things everyone hates, but not petty nothings like personal preferences. No one is weird, everyone is different, and being different is ok.