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Well that settles it
(thelemmy.club)
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this post was submitted on 28 May 2026
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Autism
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I'll argue the flip side. I have a son who is 13 and firmly L2/L3. This is where a lot of autistic people sit and specifically online they are grossly under-represented because they don't have the capacity to socialize even from a computer or phone.
My older son is what used to be Asperger's which I would define as your L1.
I continue to hate the fact that they flattened their taxonomy with DSM V. Asperger's != Autism.
So I get and chuckle at the memes but when people think of autism they are thinking of my autistic son not the Asperger's one.
The representation of autistic people in the media, and in social media like this, is not an accurate representation of autistic people
Yah I hate that people call SUVs, "cars". They're completely different.
And it's terrible that people started calling lecterns, "podiums". They're entirely independent of one another.
And it sucks that people call 1/2 baths, "bathrooms" even though nobody's doing any kind of bathing in those things.
That series of analogies is absolute garbage and you know it.
It does kinda fit. The main part that changes between the "levels" of a diagnosis is the severity of symptoms and how much they impact your ability to take part in society. If car and SUV are too close for you, then we can also compare a normal car with a three wheeled one. Its kinda different but still the same. Everyone but the most pedantic person would categories it as a car.
It doesn't mean everyone needs the same accommodation, but that's also the case for someone with a broken pinky vs a broken neck.
The car, podium and such analogies are bad and you're confirming my point. Your last analogy is good and it highlights why differentiating is hugely important.
When I say "I broke something" we do not look at a pinky toe or a broken neck the same and doing so is an affront to either of those people.
Of by broken is assume a pinky toe it's insulting to those with broken necks and their level of disability in comparison. If we all assume it's a broken neck we treat those with the broken pinky with far more attention than they require.
I am saying with someone who has kids on both ends of the spectrum, continuing to hear from L1 people while L2/L3 people in many ways lack the capacity to join the conversation is harmful to all parties.
Yes there are similarities which is why I get the DSM V changes but from real lived in world experience they are not the same thing.
So I do my part to highlight this not because I am challenging OP, but I am making sure the autistic people like my younger son that does not have the capacity to join the conversation is heard and their opinions matter and their voices matter and we do not have their representation nor are we asking for it and that is fundamentally wrong.
What analogies?
Those are examples of other conflationary ambiguing terms that are annoying.
Of course I just made up conflationary and ambiguing. I don't know if they're the proper terms.
The problem I have is that there is a loss of specificity, not that Asperger's and autism are fundamentally different. Autism used to be defined as the cluster of autism-like symptoms paired with a developmental problem with language. Asperger's was very similar, except that the impairment was with social interaction and non-verbal communication rather than linguistic aspects. Nowadays, while there is a lot of overlap, the difference is more like car vs truck rather than car vs SUV. You can classify a truck as a type of car, but you can't classify a car as a type of truck.
It's too late, they already classified SUV's as a truck.
Here we have the diagnostic definition at odds with the desire to socialize the specific condition to the layman and advance acceptance.
I agree the new descriptors sometimes runs counter to that effort. So I tend to describe my L1ASD condition as "the Asperger's style of autism" to the uninitiated.
Unfortunately, this can also draw negativity from the cohort of autistic folks that want to see the term Asperger's deleted because they misunderstand who Hans Asperger was and what he actually was about. The popular story about that has been distilled to a soundbyte of "He WaS a NaZi" spongebob font and all.
It's frustrating and anecdotally I'm 10+ years in my journey parenting autistic children and the consensus with the professionals is that the new descriptors are a continued challenge. Will it change with time? Who knows? All I can do is advocate for those who get left out and/or left on the wrong side of these memes because like my younger son they cannot advocate for themselves.
It will change when all the regular folks learn to use their sense of reason to question their own emotionally-driven judgements.
I don't see that being a skill that is encouraged in many parts of our society, because it would make the people more capable of thinking critically and less susceptible to the political/ideological manipulations that prey on their anger and fear.
It is my firm belief the only way things will change is if neurotypical people are forced to have relationships with autistic peers. Right now we do not do this. Autistic programs by and large are professionals helping autistic kids while working with other autistic kids.
There needs to be programs in schools that force children to become peer buddy groups with autistic kids.
Maybe.. but I feel like forcing people to do things doesn't often yield the best results. I do agree that consistent and positive interaction would be meaningful.
Culturally, we need people to set the examples and to lead correctly. And that's adults, whether its teachers or parents, including and accepting the autistic kid and encouraging the neurotypical kids to be the same.
If that's in line with what you're saying, then we're on the same page.
Yes.
If it makes sense it's the whole, "I have a child with autism not an autistic child."