─ About Here are some things you should absolutely avoid telling an autistic person. To offer more context and hindsight, I've added short reasons below as to why these sentences are harmful and what they may imply. I am aware that there are many other things not to say to autistic people, and I am planning on making a part 2 (and maybe a part 3) later on. Hopefully this'll eventually become a lengthy informational series for the allistic eye. Discuss or comment additions below if you like. ─ Instructions Use the arrow keys, click, tap, or use the spacebar to navigate through the slides. ─ Definitions ∞ Autism [Autism is] a neurodevelopmental condition with lifelong effects that can be recognized from early childhood, chiefly characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behavior. (Oxford Dictionary) Being autistic does not mean you have an illness or disease. It means your brain works in a different way from other people. It's something you're born with. Signs of autism might be noticed when you're very young, or not until you're older. If you're autistic, you're autistic your whole life. Autism is not a medical condition with treatments or a "cure". But some people need support to help them with certain things. (NHS) ∞ Allistic Allistic people are individuals that are not autistic. Note that you can be both allistic and neurodivergent. ─ Notes/other useful information ∞ Please refrain from using the puzzle piece symbol whilst referring to autism. This implies that autism is something that oughts to be fixed, and it's a symbol frequently used by ableist, harmful organizations such as Autism Speaks. The rainbow infinity symbol is much more inclusive, representing the variety of neurodiversity. ∞ Feel free to ask me questions about my experience as an autistic person in the comments, or submit other related queries below. ─ Credits ∞ Infinity symbol PNG from Sketchify. ∞ Cover page designed using Canva. ∞ Font used on the title page is called 'OpenDyslexic'. ∞ Spectrum diagram made by Autistic_sketches. ─ Tags #ActuallyAutistic #RedInstead
