People talking abt autism like its a set of quirky silly traits and not an often debilitating neurological disorder genuinely drives me up a wall, especially as someone who's support needs are higher.
"I want a gf with autism :3" ok are you prepared to help them with hygiene tasks? Are you gonna help them with laundry and cleaning their room? Are you gonna be patient with them when they're using AAC? Will you comfort them through meltdowns? Or do you just want a gf who talks to you about dinosaurs and has a cute "neurodivergent aesthetic"?
The minimization of autistic struggles to just "socially awkward sometimes" ends up making higher support needs autistics feel real isolated, because it's obvious that when you romanticize neurodivergence, you're not talking about us.
