Modern day autism stigma

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[I hope this post gets noticed among the current wave of spam]

Something I've been wondering for a long time... do people find Aspergers Syndrome/Autism to be more stigmatised than it was, say, 20 years ago?

Back then, Autism was a more severe condition, and Aspergers basically meant incurable social anxiety. But now, Aspergers syndrome itself seems to have become heavily stigmatised due to people wrongly thinking that Hans Asperger was a nazi, and Autism has become this peculiar condition which seems to affect adults over 30 who have careers and families, but who "feel different". Which means people who may have actual troubling symptoms/effects (e.g. anxiety, depression, loneliness etc) can't really be taken seriously.

I have always been sceptical about my Aspergers diagnosis. But when I read information about it which was written 15--30 years ago, it makes a heck of a lot more sense than the stuff which is written about Autism nowadays.

I'm just curious about people's thoughts on the subject.

That’s one of the reasons why I’m not seeking a diagnosis. If the so-called medical community can’t make up their mind about the name of the condition, it’s already a red flag in itself. Now, if they had simply renamed the condition so that it wouldn’t be named after a Nazi criminal, it would be one thing. Instead, they completely eliminated the concept itself, effectively putting the people who suffer from it into the same category - or “spectrum” - with really autistic people. In other words, as far as they’re concerned, an otherwise normal guy having difficulty with social cues now has more in common with a non-verbal autistic person who has difficulties performing basic tasks than with regular people. I just can’t take this seriously. Even if Asperger’s - or whatever more appropriate name would be given to it - was still considered a standalone condition, I wouldn’t want to label my internal struggle. There’s a concept of being legally blind, right? So, Asperger’s sounds to me as being “legally weird”. No, I’m not part of it.

Funny it seems almost as though Autism might be getting trivialized, if I am not mistaken by the feeling , I get from this thread. And if you had not grown up in the time frame I did myself .But, then again , due to differences in experiences. Could the reason I am getting that impression here . . As I was diagnosed on the spectrum, and my younger sisiter was a seriously non verbal Autist just after birth. Before they had enough experience to seperate mongoloids,etc. and associate different people . And I had mo understanding of masking So would just hide from family and people alot back then . Generally to avoid stress and potential physicsl pain.
So they just used the "R"word to lump them all together. Perhaps my own leaning towards the Asperger spectrum. And growing through the extreme naivete, difference in basic understandings & etc.of a big part in my life. Later on gave me a closer undertanding of non verbals .
And quite honestly , I do not believe much about 30 yrs old ,as a relative factor in Autism .Hard to convey in words what kind of mentality autists are forced in to just to survive. It is no wonder the mortality rates of autists are quite high as compared to the average in the population Acceptance of Autism .I just do not hear much written about that ! IMHO

Foreigners.

That's all I have to say about that change as someone who's not from the west.
I do not like those particular changes from there, and then it affects where I came from. It's rooted from sensibilities that doesn't align nor anything to do with the culture I'm living. It's annoying.

And I won't be surprised if this thread is moved in a different section.

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a few years ago I did an internet search (repeatable today) for "autism stigma" and found all sorts of articles for parents, caretakers, siblings, spouses of autistic people about how to cope with stigma around their autistic family member. I did not find one article about adult autism for adult autistic individuals about stigma specific to us.
I may go ahead and try that search again. (this was a blast from the past for me and a reminder that i have not checked this topic recently) Thank you

Haven't met a single person not into autism for another reason that knew Asperger was a nazi (technically he wasn't... in all other aspects, one of the worst.).

What I do feel people minimize the label a lot ("everybody is autistic these days") or you can select which of the fun bits of autism you want. So yes, not taken seriously. Even Asperger himself once in a while made that mistake (not all of it because he certainly did not see himself as "a waste of life").

And if you are successful (read 'wealthy' which usually the only thing they really know), any sort of "socially unaccepted" (ok... a**hole) behavior is ok because that is just the autism... And that minimizes too... "see, you can be succesful if you try" and be someone completely different...

Some refer to mild Asperger's cases as just "high-masking", but I wouldn't consider myself that either. When I'm masking I'm usually shy, but it's not often that I'm masking really. When I'm not masking I'm still not outwardly autistic. It's just my ADHD (hyperactivity and impulsiveness and poor emotional control) that surfaces, making people think I have mental health issues.

Also I often Google how it was for autistic people before the 20th century, but more times than not it only refers to people with profound autism who were thought of as "ret*d" and were sent away to mental asylums, etc. But what about the autistic people who were high intellects and were just a bit odd or different but still were able to work, get married, bring up children, and socialise? And it's common sense to call these people "mild" or "high-functioning", because, well, they were, albeit any struggles they did have, it's still mild compared to the more profound autistic types who may still be intelligent but cannot acquire the right social skills.

And the stigma these days is that we're serial killers, because each time there's a major stabbing or shooting that makes the news, the killer responsible always turns out to be autistic, sometimes even diagnosed. So it gives autistic people a bad press, just like terrorists that give Muslims a bad press. It's horrible being in a minority group that includes some of these extremities that make the news.

It's definitely been destigmatized overall.

The biggest problem the subject has going for it is the rapidly changing terms and definitions. One of the reasons a lot of people continue to stick to the "Asperger's" term, after having been dropped from the DSM more than a decade ago, is that it has taken on an association in a lot of people's minds with eccentric geniuses (which is no doubt the reason Elon Musk likes the term). I've always found the term "on the spectrum" a bit odd given that autism is hardly the only condition that exists on a spectrum. The phrase definitely has got less of a stigma than the simple adjective "autistic"--which still carries some of its historical association with intellectual disabilities--but it doesn't have quite the same connotations of misunderstood genius that "Asperger's" has attached to it.

At the same time, I pretty regularly see people eschew both those newer terms and go straight to describing themselves simply as autistic, even when they're fully independent-living adults with careers, spouses, and kids. That to me is a pretty strong indication it's lost a lot of its stigma.

Nevertheless, we need to keep in mind that most people aren't as tuned in to this subject as we are, and among the general populace exists (sorry) a wide spectrum of levels of knowledge about it. RFK Jr. is a liar and charlatan, but he speaks to what are still some fairly widespread attitudes on the subject, and that level of ignorance is still a problem for us.

Tamaya wrote:
think people who know you, overlook these minor details in body language when you're chatting to them and it just seems easier to be yourself. Well, this may not apply to everyone, but it does to me.

Yes, I get this kind of understanding too. Its just a blessing ,when you can be yourself around some people

I think broader Autism awareness outside of the psychiatric / medical professionals hasn't been the best thing.

Nowadays, I try to stay in the closet when it comes to my Autism diagnosis because many people of the older generation view it as a trivial affliction that only affects "lazy weak millennials".

I think it would be better if the general public knew nothing about autism. At least that way you could have a chance to educate the person yourself, instead of running up against misconceptions and prejudice.

Also, I don't want to argue about the MMR vaccine with someone. When will people get it through their thick sculls that Autism is genetic? And more often than not hereditary.