• 3 Posts
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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: June 9th, 2023

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  • Man, as an Autistic person who has, how can I put this diplomatically, been perceived as having DS by those who are unaware? (I have a big head and the tendency to mumble and indulge in Echolalia) This is a whole ass vibe

    In my experience there’s not much to be done, you can’t talk them out of these displayed behaviors cognitively if they didn’t come across these behaviors cognitively eg

    *were they evaluated for DS in the past?

    I had a fellow autistic schoolmate who was evaluated for schizophrenia before they were diagnosed as autistic, so they tended to interpret things in that lens, like if someone is having a meltdown, to an outsider does it present that much different if they’re have an overwhelming sensory moment, ‘hearing a voice’ or say, having a seizure?

    *have they socially interacted with someone with DS?

    I’ve seen it been super common for autistic peers to pick up ticks/phrases from others without even realizing it, even if the interaction was years ago

    And probably the last step would be exposure, if there is a person with DS in your social setting who would be negatively effected by your friends actions, could you talk with their family/any supporting people that have about introducing your friend to them?

    And if not, then their actions seem to mainly be stressing you, and maybe you should decide if your friendship with them is benefiting you both equally and should continue

    Not to dump this in your lap or say that you have to be the one to do something or change, but in my experience you’re going to have more luck engineering a situation where they figure it out themselves, than changing their mind with an argument