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 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.
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.