this post was submitted on 04 May 2026
12 points (100.0% liked)

Autism

10328 readers
372 users here now

This is a community for people with Autism to be themselves. All neurotypes are welcome.

Community:

Values

  • Acceptance
  • Openness
  • Understanding
  • Equality
  • Reciprocity
  • Mutuality
  • Love

Rules

  1. No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments e.g: racism, sexism, religious hatred, homophobia, gatekeeping, trolling.
  2. Posts do not need be related to autism, off-topic discussions are allowed. This is a safe space where people with autism can feel comfortable discussing whatever they feel like discussing, as long as it does not violate the standing rules.
  3. Your posts must include a text body. It doesn't have to be long, it just needs to be descriptive.
  4. Do not request donations.
  5. Be respectful in discussions.
  6. Do not post misinformation.
  7. Mark NSFW content accordingly.
  8. Do not promote Autism Speaks.
  9. General Lemmy World rules.
  10. No bots. Humans only.

Encouraged

  1. Open acceptance of all autism levels as a respectable neurotype.
  2. Funny memes.
  3. Respectful venting.
  4. Describe posts of pictures/memes using text in the body for our visually impaired users.
  5. Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
  6. Questions regarding autism.
  7. Questions on confusing situations.
  8. Seeking and sharing support.
  9. Engagement in our community's values.
  10. Expressing a difference of opinion without directly insulting another user.
  11. Please report questionable posts and let the mods deal with it.

.

Helpful Resources

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Lexam@lemmy.world
12
Supportive and inclusive environment (lemmy.world)
submitted 4 months ago by TerdFerguson@lemmy.world to c/autism@lemmy.world
8 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Every article I read about the common social struggles of autism, talks about the need to build a supportive and inclusive environment.

They never go into what is needed in order to do that effectively, because the correct answer means changing how all the normal people behave to become more supportive and inclusive.

top 8 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Arcanepotato@crazypeople.online 5 points 4 months ago (2 children)

My hot take is that being "inclusive" when it comes to gender, race, nationality, family status has such a low bar. It's basically "don't use slurs at work". Please note I didn't call this equity - it doesn't do much to improve the experience of equity deserving groups. I'm not suggesting they benefit from this.

It's kinda funny how it demonstrates how foolish it was to exclude people based in race or gender, because those traits don't really prevent people from performing the function the employer wants them too, as long as everyone chills the fuck out and leaves them alone.

I can't even get people to message me when they see me with my (giant, over ear) headphones on at my desk. They will just stand behind me, talking at me, and getting mad. The most simple things are too hard!

[–] TerdFerguson@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Yes.

I don't even need anyone to do anything other than adjust their expectations around my style of communication and how I go about completing my work.

[–] lifeinlarkhall@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

This is the thing. People have blown inclusiveness and accessibility into such a huge thing ("you can't expect the world to cater to your every whim" and bullshit) when quite a bit of it is actually pretty minor... unless you're extremely rigid but hang on, that's us isn't it? 😅

Non autistic people are incredibly rigid too imo. Simple changes like text-based communication (never lived in a time when this is SO simple to implement lol) could make all kinds of places from employment to health services and government services more accessible. Or "quiet hour" (do other places do this?) at supermarkets - they lower the lights, turn down the radio and machines, announcements and y'know what? Most people don't notice until they come back on at full brightness/volume. It doesn't affect most people but it can be extremely beneficial for some! This could be done so much more widely and make places more accessible.

Both visual and audio information on public transport. Again, this benefits everyone - most people wear earphones on public transport (and other public places) and would benefit from visual signage. This one frustrates me because where I am we do have this but it's inconsistent. Some busses have the screen showing you where you are for each spot, some don't, it's random - that's not accessible.

These aren't outrageous asks especially with the technology we have, honestly we've had the technology to do these things easily for decades now so it really is a choice that it's still not done (effectively). When I hear people arc up about these very basic accessibility needs it really just reminds me that the "rigid" trait of autism is not quite accurate. Perhaps we're just rigid about different things than non autistic people are rigid about? But imo being particularly rigid is not exclusive to autism.

D

[–] Mowcherie@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Justice and law-based systems would be more important to invest in and provide resources for. Some of us are justice-sensitive in a way that makes things come to a halt when unfairness reigns.

[–] Arcanepotato@crazypeople.online 4 points 4 months ago

If you would like to share, I would be interested to know more. I am extremely justice sensitive, but I know what is "just" to me is not just to others. I'm not sure how that can be reconciled in your proposed approach.

[–] TerdFerguson@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

True... and how awful for them to have to raise the standard. /s

My expectations for justice are adjusted pretty low these days, which is sad but it does help me not be so frustrated.

[–] autonomous@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

They don't want to talk about it because they know what a nightmare it is to accomplish

[–] TerdFerguson@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

Yeah, exactly. I guess you don't want to scare away anyone thinking about being more supportive and inclusive by explaining how difficult it actually is to do that or by describing what is involved.

Better to just minimally gloss over it and leave the impression that all an organization needs to do is pay it lip service.

"We are a supportive and inclusive employer" [checks box]