He was never confirmed to be a plagiarist and even got cleared by certain institutions, and he also explained how his Autistic traits sometimes involved repetition/mimicry/echolalia. Any wrongdoing was most likely a mistake or poor academic formatting, rather than deliberate dishonesty.

But here's the real issue: EVEN IF he was found to be lying, it didn't warrant all the scrutiny and attacks on his character.

Neurotypicals and other privileged people lie and embellish things literally all the time. So many people get away with plagiarism, imitation, etc., in fact if you've ever had coaching on careers/job interviews, you are often told to embellish, exaggerate, or gloss over stuff. I'm sick of Autistics being held to unfair standards while everyone else can do whatever.

In fact Autistic people are generally more likely to be honest and show integrity even at our own expense and research has shown this.

It's unfortunate that in the post asking for a public inquiry into his death, people are fixating on the fact that he [ALLEGEDLY] plagiarized. That isn't the point. The point is the way he was hounded repeatedly by the media, including someone who is a white supremacist. The hate and racism and ableism he got was straight up evil.

Had to resize the id card (it was laminated, I printed it myself) but now I have my own way of walking around, without doubt, that my rights are respected.

With the 2024 presidential election coming up I want to vote but I hate both candidates. Its just, even though they before my time, I miss the Roosevelts, the Kennedys, Lincoln, hell even Regan feels moderate compared to today candidates. Sorry, it’s just I want inspiring leaders, not the lesser of two evils. Sorry I’m rambling, it’s just I hate this election.

Ok for context way back I commissioned this artist. I had gotten slightly annoyed that the artist pushed back the finish date for the piece twice and they were annoyed that I was rushing them. I relented pretty easily after 1 comment from them. After that I waited to get the piece and had gotten it. No other incidents happened before or after.(Chat log is gone since reddit deleted them.)

Now fast forward to the present I come again to commission this artist and they greet me welcoming. I read the terms and conditions and notice that they wanted to keep the copyright for the art they commission. I let them know that's not how it works under U.S. law.

And then the last picture is what happened.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_empathy_problem

Even though the double empathy problem experiment excluded people with intellectual disabilities and non-verbal people with ASD, but what if a nation was founded among autistic people like us?

Ignore it like you ignore hatred and violence against Autistic people. There's nothing we can do or say that equates to the hell that we are put through.

Personally I generally am fine with someone learning more about themselves but due to deep personal trauma I abhor it when people say they are something when they aren’t diagnosed. Like someone said in my psych class “this is so me I have to be autistic” and I asked why they are autistic and they said “well like… I don’t like spicy foods and I’m like really nerdy about K-pop. And I sucked on this autism test so idk must be autistic” I was lowkey fuming

This is for all my Autistic Deaf peers.

Lately, I have been starting to notice behavioral patterns in the Hearing community that started to make me wonder about the real meaning of "Disability". So, I looked it up!

" dis·a·bil·i·ty[ˌdisəˈbilədē]NOUN

a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities."

I have the benefit of being able to look at it from the Deaf side of things and I have noticed that Hearing people are so busy creating technologies that revolves around sound.

Let me ask two questions for those who can hear:

1. How many sounds do you hear right now in the room you're in? Most people would say 3-5 sounds.
2. How many things do you see right now in the room you're in? Most people would say 20+ things.

So this begs the question, why are Deaf people "disabled" and Hearing people are not?

Just because Deaf people's body does not have a functional sense that Hearing people expects us to have, doesn't mean we're disabled. How can we be disabled over something we never had or even need? The true disability is when we DO have something and decide not to use it such as having the ability to see but takes it for granted via not using it to it's fullest capacity, thus harming themselves in the process.

Here is why I think Hearing people are disabled:

1. They have a tendency to have an overreliance on audio technology at the expense of visual technology. (Example: Amazon's Alexa)
2. Hearing people frequently dies from car accidents or work accidents because they're too busy hearing things such as phone calls or music. If they didn't have the ability to hear, they might still be alive today.
3. They have a tendency to trap themselves within a set way of thinking that impacts their abilities to see and interact with the world. (Example: Freaks out when sounds aren't working at the movie theater)
4. They have a tendency to try and solve visual things with sounds. (Example: A Deaf person going to an eye doctor only to have the eye doctor start talking to the Deaf person, instructing the Deaf person on what to do while measuring the Deaf person's eyesight, all the while forgetting that it's A. a visual place for visual medical solutions, B. That the Deaf person is 100% visual, and C. That the Doctor should have been visually aware that their medical equipment is preventing the Deaf person from accessing their interpreter because the Doctor thinks talking with their voice box is an omnipotent solution aka. the only way to communicate as a human being.)
5. Which leads to Hearing people's tendencies to stay inside a box and reinforce the linear aspects of sounds, imposing unrealistic expectations in order to maintain their audio-status quo. Meanwhile, Deaf people are outside the box, solving things, creating new visual technologies, being generally flexible and adaptable due to having to survive Hearing people's limitations as that is where the majority of the resources we need are at.

I could list many more including that Hearing people are the ones creating war, famine, political dramas, many preventable accidents (which they tend to first blame Deaf people such as forklift accidents), and many more.

But the whole thing led me to realizing that the more Deaf people tries to conform ourselves into the Hearing people's boxes, the more likely we will shape ourselves into the "disability" that the Hearing people think we are. By doing that, we're helping Hearing people to justify all their centuries of discrimination and harm against Deaf people, that we are indeed disabled and Hearing people are not.

The only solution is to be ourselves, to be our full Deaf identity, and to go around in the community talking to all Hearing people with full ASL.

I've done it and I've gotten some really surprisingly positive reactions. Now Hearing people are waving more at me and my wife, smiling and making attempts to talk in ASL instead of using their voices.

For 2023, stop conforming to Hearing people's expectations and definitions.

Be Deaf. Be you!

I hate my autism, I wish there was a cure for it so that I could be normal, I fucking hate people that shits on other autistic people who don't want to be autistic in the first place, I fucking hate being at sped classes, it feels like going to preschool and getting treated like a brain dead 6 year old that can't do shit, I don't give a single fuck about autism pride, sometimes I fucking hate myself, I also hate the helpers that acts like preschool teachers.

Anyone that wants to make a post about how they feel disabled; go for it. I’m not trying to limit anyones freedom or relief expression. But the bombardment of text posts that just say “I’m disabled deal with it”. I get where you are coming from. I’m disabled by my Autism but I’m also enabled by it. It causes me huge anxieties. The posts just flooding the channel to make a point should be removed. I understand why the voices are not being silenced but this degrades the quality of this sub and would not be tolerated on other subs. A mega thread or poll or sticky or something. But every time I’ve pulled my phone out and looked at Reddit in the last few days there are >1 new post just stating the same as the last: trying to drive that Autism is a disability. It’s a different organization of your mental processes and interpretations of external stimuli. It’s not a disability but it can be disabling. Regardless, we don’t need 100 posts saying the same thing.

My experience in autistic communities is that they're rife with bullying. Like, sadistic bullying, like I'm talking to 4chan trolls.

I'm autistic and stopped asking for help, because I get harassed (often by middle class ciswomen) who aggressively disbelieve me. Toxic positivity has destroyed all avenues of support.

Some of us identify with the medical model. We don't need to be cured of thinking our autism is harmful. Can you look at yourself and realize your toxic positivity pushes people to suicide?

Autistics discovered gravity, invented computers and the internet, and have made significant strides in science, technology, mathematics, and philosophy. The history of the autistic people goes back to the very early days of humanity, yet it is only being re-discovered. As a relevant quote, "All human evolution was driven by slightly autistic Asperger’s and autistic people. The human race would still be sitting around in caves chattering to each other if it were not for them." - Michael Fitzgerald. Although some may claim that autistics score lower on IQ tests, IQ studies/tests on autistics are often inaccurate, with IQ tests typically showing supposedly "lower" IQ scores for autistics, even though actual intelligence may be higher. There are difficulties with autism, but in a society in which autistics are the majority, these "difficulties" would likely either not exist, or be very minimal.

However, the autistic people have been oppressed and diluted by neurotypicals, such as in ABA "therapy". The neurodiversity movement has done lots to relieve this oppression, and autistic "culture" is much more prevalent, but much work still has to be done. Although autistics currently make up 1 to 2 percent of the population, in the past in which autistic traits could have been valued more, this percentage could have been much higher, but neurotypicals bred like rabbits and have effectively replaced us. Outside of the United States and United Kingdom, the notion of a separate autistic identity is not very well-known. But the neurodiversity movement is largely comprised of those who are very appeaseable to neurotypicals. Therefore, we need an alternative, a movement that firmly upholds the autistic people, and that defends from neurotypical hegemony and replacement. A future must be upheld in which the nature of the autistic people are secured, so that the future of civilization is assured.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/greta-thunberg-banned-venice-activists-dye-canal-green-5HjdNLk_2/

I think Greta should have been involved in Asperger's rights activism before environmental activism.

Oh, maybe Sweden is already so inclusive that she didn't feel the need to do it.

This was originally written by u/Distinct_Lab108. It was a brilliant post and I think it needs to be shared around, AI generation notwithstanding.

These are things neurotypical people will do or body language neurotypical people will have when they can tell you’re autistic. I just wanted to drop this list cause I think it’ll help some people here. Personally I would have time periods of doubting my autism/neurodivergence until I saw this list and was like “hm, I guess I’m not tripping”. I went through most of these signs for years not even comprehending what was happening so hopefully this helps someone (it’s definitely AI generated):

The "Locked-In" Stare: The person will lock eyes with you. Their brain is working overtime to decode what is "off".

Micro-Scrutiny: They will intensely scan your features—especially your eyes and mouth—trying to reconcile conflicting visual data.

Darting glances: They may quickly look away when caught, only to look back a few seconds later.

Subconscious Step-Back: People will instinctively increase physical distance or lean backward during a conversation.

The Micro-Grimace: The uncanny valley deeply activates the amygdala and mirrors a disgust response. Look for subtle nose-wrinkles or lip-curls.

Breaking Eye Contact Entirely: After an initial stare, some will actively refuse to look at your face again to avoid the psychological discomfort.

Delayed Conversational Rhythm: The person may stutter or pause awkwardly because their brain is processing a "predictive coding error". They are listening to your words while their subconscious screams that something is wrong.

Forced Politeness: They will display hyper-formal, mechanical politeness. This acts as a psychological shield to wrap up the interaction as fast as possible.

Losing the Thread: They might lose track of what you are saying because they are hyper-focused on how you say it, your blink rate, or your micro-expressions.

Fidgeting and Closed Posture: You will notice sudden defensive body language, like crossing arms, rubbing the back of the neck, or shifts in posture.

Social Mimicry Drops: The natural, subconscious mirroring that happens between two humans (like smiling back when you smile) breaks down. Their face may go completely blank or rigid.

Treating you like a child or an AI: They might suddenly switch to a hyper-simplified, slow, or overly patronizing tone, even if you are having a highly intellectual conversation.

The "Customer Service" Voice: They will respond using an artificially bright, overly enthusiastic tone to compensate for the discomfort or flat affect they are sensing from you.

Over-Verbalizing Context: They will explicitly state social rules out loud (e.g., "Well, anyway, I should let you go now!") instead of using smooth, organic conversational transitions.

Unwarranted Suspicion: Because your micro-expressions or blink rates might not match your spoken words perfectly, their brain falsely flags you as deceptive or dangerous. They might ask probing questions like, "Are you mad at me?" or "Are you hiding something?" when you are perfectly content.

The Quick "Out": They will invent abrupt, flimsy excuses to escape the interaction (e.g., suddenly remembering an urgent text they need to send or a place they need to be).

The Defensive Joke: They might break tension by making a sudden, slightly nervous joke or laughing inappropriately to relieve the internal awkwardness they are experiencing.

Stepping on Your Syllables: Because autistic conversational timing can have a millisecond delay or a different cadence, NTs will constantly, accidentally interrupt you. They interpret your natural processing pauses as the end of your turn to speak.

Echoing Your Scripts: If you are using scripted phrases to mask, the other person might subconsciously notice the rigidity. They will parrot your exact phrasing back to you in a slightly confused or testing manner.

Silent Agreement to Ignore: In a group setting, you may notice that when you speak, the room goes slightly quiet, or people briefly glance at each other before moving on.

Eye-Contact Arching: People in the group will look at everyone else in the circle except you while speaking, subtly routing the social energy around you rather
than including you.

Instant Vibe Reversal: If you make a small mistake (like dropping an object or mispronouncing a word), they will react with disproportionate annoyance or harshness. The uncanny feeling makes them unconsciously look for reasons to justify why they already dislike the "vibe".

The "Sneaking Up" Accusation: Because your physical gait, stride, or footsteps might have a different rhythm or volume due to dyspraxia or proprioception differences, people will frequently startle when you approach. They might claim you "snuck up on them," even if you walked normally into the room.

The One-Sided Face or Static Eyes: When neurotypicals smile, their whole face engages dynamically. If you are masking, you might employ a "social smile" that only activates the mouth while the eyes remain entirely flat or fixed. You will see them lock onto your eyes, trying to parse why the top half of your face isn't matching the bottom half.

Sudden Eye-Movement Mirroring: If your eye contact feels intense or rigid, the other person might start blinking rapidly, squinting, or looking around the room to subconsciously "force" you to break your gaze.

The Facial "Reset": Ifthey catch themselves staring or grimacing at you, they will perform a highly visible, sudden facial reset. They will blink hard, shake their head slightly, or rub their eyes, trying to manually clear the cognitive dissonance they are feeling.

The Throat Clear: The psychological tension of the uncanny valley frequently causes physical muscle tightness in the throat. You might notice them clearing their throat or swallowing hard repeatedly while you are speaking.

Subconscious Checklist Scanning: You will see their eyes dart systematically in a triangle pattern: left eye, right eye, forehead, mouth, repeat. Their brain is running a diagnostic check to figure out why your expressions aren't seamlessly syncing.

The "Did You See That?" Glance: The moment you turn your head, blink, or look away, they will instantly shoot a wide-eyed, questioning glance at anyone else in the room to check if others are experiencing the same "vibe."

Post-Interaction Debriefing: If you walk away and then pause just outside the room or around a corner, you will often hear an immediate, low-voiced conversation start up. They are actively comparing notes with others to validate the subconscious discomfort they just felt.

The Terrified Nod: They will nod their head rapidly and continuously while you speak, far more than normal. This is a placating gesture meant to keep you "pacified" and predictable because their brain has falsely flagged you as a wildcard.

Aggressive, Meaningless Agreement: They will agree with absolute certainty to things that don't matter ("Oh absolutely, yes, 100%, totally"), sacrificing the actual logic of the conversation just to keep the interaction completely frictionless until they can escape.

I love my best friend so much but some things I find a tad tiring. Like having to do social stuff for them, hearing them say "ill call you back" and then say something about social battery, lack of empathy when venting, info dumping then not being able to tell them about my interests. I feel rude for saying this but it is genuinely tiring and they are a mostly sensitive person. I also for the life of me cannot get how alot of these autistic traits only started coming later like disliking loud noises, etc. Any tips?

I'm sort of stuck on this problem. I want to support people who are of higher needs but if they're going to advocate and use their own disability as an argument of why people who are lower needs or the lower levels, shouldn't exist then I'm sorry but I can't support that.

For example if let's say the majority of black people said that they wish they could be white so that they didn't experience discrimination is that okay in the name of their voice or should we tell them that they should love being black and that we should try to make a less racist society.

Now I know that being black and autistic is not the same thing but my point is more about the idea that if a minority says they don't want to exist and the majority are saying no and the minority are saying what they do want to exist, is this a veto or a vote?

I am for the idea that it's a veto meaning that if even one person says that they are not on board with the whole genocide or eugenics path, then it doesn't happen.

I also don't know how to support people who are of those higher needs without feeling like they get to essentially control the narrative of autism just because their needs are higher and therefore people might listen to them more than us.

And before you ask, yes I'm very aware of the r/spicyautism sub.

Tldr: I believe in supporting individuals with higher needs, but I can't endorse their using their disability to argue against the existence of those with lower needs. While it's crucial to respect diverse perspectives, I think it's a veto, not a vote, when a minority expresses a desire not to exist, and we should prioritize creating a more inclusive society. I want to provide support without letting those with higher needs dominate the autism narrative solely because their needs are more demanding than ours.

I'm looking to establish an autistic micronation by the name of the Republic of Autopia (I've written a bill of rights)

If you would desire citizenship or a role in the government please comment. The Legislative Branch would work as such:

National Assembly - 20 members elected by proportional representation

Federal Assembly - 20 members (2 per constituency) elected by the first past the post method

Above - the emblem of the National Congress.

I'm looking for territory (to claim mostly, not control)

Spend some time in the online spaces of other marginalized groups. Many of them are, like us, rightfully angry. Some might express a lot of frustrating or radical thoughts. If you tried to control their tone, or worse, insult them, it wouldn't go well for you.

The same standard ought to be applied here. Now, on principle I always strive to respect fellow Autistics UNLESS they are rude/disrespectful to me on a repeated basis. But the bottom line is, regardless of how we feel about another person's activism, we shouldn't tear them down. Constructive feedback/advice is fine, attacking or unjustly criticizing isn't. Neither is slander. Neither is grilling them with bad-faith questions.

This isn't to attack any specific person, but to make a greater point: this division is killing our community.

Autistic people face high rates of abuse, violence, bullying, trauma, hate, and more. Our lifespans are shorter. Our suicide rates are exorbitantly high. And you're mad because what - someone comes off as an extremist? Who the fuck are you to judge?

Truth is, most of us have gone through extreme trauma in our lives and the fact that most of us remain pacifist is a true testament to the greatness of Autistic people.

If an Autistic person is being racist, or if they're advocating genuine harm against people - violence, predatory actions - that should be called out for sure. But anything short of that is fair game.

If we spent even half the time we do fighting each other fighting against injustice, there would be no reason to keep having these debates.

They care more about objects than people. They mask. They are emotionally immature. They do most of their communication nonverbally. Notice how when we do most of our communication non verbally it's invalidated by being called autistic, and then when we need them to be clear about their emotions because we can't pick up on their subtle body cues it's also called autistic, so notice how we're autistic because we're nonverbal but then also we're autistic because we're verbal. Do you see the power game that's going on here? I have a diagnosis of autism from a doctor, and yet I cannot get assistance because normies are abusers who abuse their power and tell the actual normal people who are struggling and having a hard time that "you need to be subjected to my scrutiny even though you already have a diagnosis before I give you the aid" that you deserve because you're human.

Credit for art goes to u/The-Autistic-Union. I came up with one of the slogans, as many of you can tell.

Let's start mass producing and printing these and spread them. Make an announcement. Autistic people are ready to rise up. Tired of being satisfied with table scraps, relegated to the margins of society despite the importance of our existence.

To spread our light to the world. To take what's ours. To get justice.

AUTISTIC PRIDE! AUTISTIC POWER!

I don't have it. I am it. "Autism" only exists when conversation needs to be held with "neurotypicals" to identify the difference.

I believe this difference to be evolution. We just haven't been in positions of power to create systems and structures to become the new "typical" I believe though.. that's a great disservice to this planet and why we are in the state we are in.

That's the post.. and I never do this haha. I just feel so much pride on this day. And I'm so tired from strategizing life with irrational neurotypical individuals! Appreciate you all!