A new study looked at over 58 million pieces of content shared from 2015 to 2025 in 1,659 conspiratorial groups about autism across 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
I don’t get it. How could having autism or whatever be “hip”? Surely it’s undesirable for most, because it tends to ostracize them, no?
At least as far as ive seen, people aren’t labelling them autistic to influence the way they are treated by the world- they are claiming the label because they see it as an explanation for previously unexplained anomalies in how the world treats them. It’s used as a flag to build community around those with shared experiences, not a doctor’s note to get out of gym class.
I suppose, but it also highlights how little people actually seem to understand autism. Autism doesn’t “kick in,” it’s a description for how your interaction with the world differs from most people.
Being socially awkward isn’t autism, it’s just being socially awkward, with a dash of social anxiety. Being really into a hobby isn’t autism, it’s being really into a hobby. And so on. Yet people extrapolate something that looks vaguely similar to what they think autism is into being “on the spectrum,” when really it’s just a coincidence.
At least as far as ive seen, people aren’t labelling them autistic to influence the way they are treated by the world- they are claiming the label because they see it as an explanation for previously unexplained anomalies in how the world treats them. It’s used as a flag to build community around those with shared experiences, not a doctor’s note to get out of gym class.
I suppose, but it also highlights how little people actually seem to understand autism. Autism doesn’t “kick in,” it’s a description for how your interaction with the world differs from most people.
Being socially awkward isn’t autism, it’s just being socially awkward, with a dash of social anxiety. Being really into a hobby isn’t autism, it’s being really into a hobby. And so on. Yet people extrapolate something that looks vaguely similar to what they think autism is into being “on the spectrum,” when really it’s just a coincidence.
It just always felt weird to me.