Even when said with the best intentions, “You don’t look autistic” isn’t really a complement…
It’s like in the movie “Titanic” when Leo DiCaprio’s character is dressed up in a tuxedo to attend dinner and someone says, “Extraordinary! Why, you could almost pass for a gentleman!”
The implication is “You look BETTER than the rest of ‘your kind,’ you don’t even look like ‘one of them.’ ”
When someone tells you they are autistic, try asking them how their autism affects them, or better yet, tell them “You look AMAZING,” because they look amazing.
Not because they don’t look “autistic.”
Love this from Stories About Autism
Original Facebook Post.
