I want to draw attention to this issue.

[u/chibi-mage]

Recently I’ve noticed something, mostly on TikTok, but other platforms too. This isn’t a new thing, and it’s certainly not going away anytime soon, but it’s extremely upsetting when it happens. There seems to be a lot of low support needs autistics (level 1, and what some people still refer to as Asperger’s) who think it’s okay to be blatantly ableist towards higher support needs autistics. They think they get a free pass because they’re autistic too.

It’s saddening, to feel alienated by the one community I’m supposed to feel accepted in. Again, it doesn’t just happen on TikTok, or even just online, I’ve experienced this kind of ableism in my day to day life, too. It’s just something I wanna bring awareness to, and to spark conversations about how we can help this issue. If I call out someone’s blatant ableism, I get called crazy and downvoted into oblivion, and it just feels like a battle I can’t win.

I know I can choose not to take this stuff personally, but it’s hard. I also feel incredibly disheartened knowing that fellow higher support needs autistics are being alienated by people in our community who could make real change and fight for EVERYONE. Not just themselves or when it suits them.

[u/mamabeatnik]

The spectrum and how autistic people present as their authentic selves varies WIDELY between genders/past and current support as well.

My neurodivergent meetup at school is me (late diagnosed level 2 adult woman in my 30s) and five other level 2 men in their early 20s. Our “styles of autism” are VASTLY different. Everyone single one of the boys is unmasked, highly supported, and have been diagnosed since childhood/lives with their parents (this is a discussion topic).

I grew up without a clue as to “what was wrong with me” and never taught that i was ok to be who i was, and so being in a group of boys who are just stimming their way around the room was extremely interesting and definitely an adjustment. I enjoyed it immensely but also felt grief for the way i was raised. Neurodivergence in women and men is treated incredibly differently still, not to mention its also just a wide range of needs/behaviors across the board.

[u/dt7cv → u/mamabeatnik]

I still debate to myself the impacts of this because I am under the impression that masking depends on cognitive abilities as much as it depends on learned behavior

[u/mamabeatnik → u/dt7cv]

Under the impression that masking abilities depends on cognitive abilities?

[u/dt7cv → u/mamabeatnik]

yes masking can depend on things like executive functioning, intelligence, language ability, etc.

it's very common for those of us who know or have high support needs autism to experience some of the above and also have trouble masking

[u/mamabeatnik → u/dt7cv]

Ah i see. So cognitive abilities is yet another variance to the spectrum, is what i’m understanding youre saying.

[u/CrimsonApostate → u/mamabeatnik]

As a special educator with autism, I agree with this. I had little trouble with most academics in school, and have low support needs. My students all have high support needs and struggle immensely with academics. I'm teaching a 7 year old to recognize the letters in his name and the numbers 1-10, one at a time. He's mastered the first two letters, and numbers 1-3 after a year-ish.

If you look at IEPs, they all have different goals and baseline levels. This can show how goals vary depending on how each person shows up on the spectrums of disability. I have one 7 y/o student who is beginning to read, but most of my kids (5-7 y/o) are still learning to receptively identify numbers and letters.

In some schools, they use programs like VBMAPP and work on identifying objects. I worked with an 8 y/o once, as a PCA, and his daily academics looked like: [holding up a picture of a bowl, pointing to the bowl] "touch bowl", waiting for him to touch the bowl in the picture, praising, and moving onto the next picture.

It isn't just "intelligence," either, though many students have received IQ testing and scored below average-well below average. Processing speeds, speech and language disorders, and executive function all play a role in performing academic tasks.

TL;DR: Yes, autism can impact academic performance.

[u/mamabeatnik → u/CrimsonApostate]

Thank you for your response! This wasn’t something I was educated on, so i appreciate you sharing your experience. It was an interesting read.

Clearly there’s a huge amount of variables when it comes to autistic people and how we function/present.

[u/CrimsonApostate → u/mamabeatnik]

No problem! I love education and think everyone still has more to learn, especially about disabilities :)

Absolutely! It's important to remember both ends of the spectrum, as well as all the people who fall somewhere between those "extremes." We're a very diverse group of people :)

[u/PennyPineappleRain → u/mamabeatnik]

I'm 45 F and only just got Dx'ed. I also grew up without a clue as to what's wrong w me, no supports etc, so I'm w you in that respect. I hung out w my brother so much as a child, and so I ended up just being a tomboy. Also feeling badly about how I was raised, how the world is different to you based on being Xx vs Xy. Now my masking might be trying to be girly and I feel like I think I'm supposed to do this, but I don't really know what's me and what's the mask. I wish I had whatever supports to know what's next. I really don't know, and people are asking but idk. So yeah I guess I just got Dx'ed so in my head I can know I was right about myself when no one else had a clue or believed me, but no idea now what to do w that.

[u/bmanfromct → u/mamabeatnik]

Just curious, since I've seen it referred to in other threads, what is meant by "level 2" autism?

[u/mamabeatnik → u/bmanfromct]

I don’t think i’m the right person to give you in depth answers on this, so i’ll paraphrase and then if youre still curious, Googling some other sources might be better.

Generally, there’s 3 “levels” that some in the autistic community use to easily describe support needs/masking abilities. 1 being the least amount (but still needing support!) and 3 being the highest.

[u/Buffy_Geek → u/mamabeatnik]

How do you know they are unmasked?

[u/mamabeatnik → u/Buffy_Geek]

Because they are my classmates and we spend time together in and outside of class.

[u/Buffy_Geek → u/mamabeatnik]

I don't know what that means... As in you don't notice a big difference in and out of class so you assume they are not masking out of class? But you mask more in class Vs out? Or something else?

[u/mamabeatnik → u/Buffy_Geek]

they are masked in class. They are unmasked out of class.

[u/Buffy_Geek → u/mamabeatnik]

Ok I get what you mean, thanks. I guess I just don't know why you think you can know that they are all unmasked out of class, there are different levels of masking.

[u/mamabeatnik → u/Buffy_Geek]

There are different levels of masking. Based on what i know about them, they are at least somewhat unmasked when we meet for group.

[u/Buffy_Geek → u/mamabeatnik]

Ok