Really, I had never thought of this black and white double standard until I thought about the therapies we put autistic children in. Maybe they would get a well-meaning tease about being a picky eater.īut when my autistic son has restricted food preferences or he needs to take a specific route to the store, it’s seen as rigidity and something that he needs intensive therapies to force flexibility. If my neurotypical child had a preference for a specific style of clothing or specific foods, no one would think twice. Oftentimes it is said that autistic children and adults have “black and white thinking” because they prefer to have things a certain way.īut doesn’t everyone prefer to have things in a certain way? The fact remains, my non-autistic child can stim in their own way to their heart’s delight without anyone saying anything, while my autistic son’s stims are seen as disruptive or annoying. They’re seen as socially acceptable, but that’s only because there are so many neurotypicals in the world that you likely see someone do it every day.īut because autistic people’s stims tend to be seen as distracting or more extreme, but I would argue that it’s only because there are less autistics in the world, and you haven’t seen our stims as often. See, when neurotypical people stim, we as a society hardly even pay attention. And those are totally stims.īut so is bouncing your leg while sitting, chewing your nails, or twirling your hair. You might hear stimming and picture arm flapping or rocking back and forth. Stimming is short for “self-stimulatory behavior” which is essentially any repetitive behavior or action that provides input to the person doing it. So with that said… Here are 5 behaviors neurotypicals can do that autistics can’t. Seeing these behaviors as inherently negative (but only when it’s an autistic person doing them) causes real harm to the autistic community when we’re just trying to live our lives like every other person.
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They also help shape the views of many therapists and teachers who are deciding how to discipline autistic children and react to autistic children’s behaviors.
So in this post I’m going to share five specific behaviors that my non-autistic child (along with most neurotypicals) can freely use that autistic children and adults are pathologized for.Īnd while it may seem trivial… I mean, why does it really matter if my autistic son’s behaviors are used as indicators of autism or seen negatively by the medical community? It’s anything but trivial.īecause those negative views from the medical community help shape the views by society overall. Teal and coral Autistic Mama infinity logo in top right corner.)ĥ Things Neurotypicals Do That Autistics Can’t Bottom image has a young boy facing away from camera walking onto a play structure holding onto the rail. In the center coral and teal text reads: “5 Things Neurotypicals Do That Autistics Can’t”. (Image description: Top half of image has a young boy smiling while playing with cars on the floor. While those same behaviors in my autistic son are pathologized and made out to be horrible traits that must be stopped.Īnd it boils down to one simple (and sad) truth of society… When autistics do it, it’s wrong. This post is about why my non-autistic child’s behaviors are seen as communication, or they’re seen as acceptable, or part of their personality. And this post isn’t about what to do about your autistic child’s behavior. Obviously, neither of those are great options.
Option 2: He does that because he’s autistic, therefore it’s a bad thing and should be stopped immediately. Option 1: He does that because he’s autistic, ignore it. On the other hand, my autistic son’s behaviors were given two options. See, when my non-autistic child did something, I was encouraged to get to the bottom of why they did it and support them through it. It didn’t take me long to realize that because of that simple fact, society viewed their behaviors very differently. My oldest child is not autistic, my younger son is. Here are 5 things neurotypicals do that autistics can’t.) (Inside: Autistics have their behaviors pathologized, while neurotypicals do the same things without issue.
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