#brendone

This is a grown man, eating cheetos with chopsticks

(clears throat) i don’t expect him to cater to me! that’s why i don’t ask youtubers not to whistle because it’s a very rare trigger! what i do expect from a hugely influential man like markiplier is respect towards neurodivergent people. not just people with ptsd come with triggers. people with autism (like me) come with triggers, as well as anybody who’s been traumatized but doesn’t necessarily have ptsd - and that’s not even all of them. and surprise, surprise - people with triggers exist in the real world! you’ve probably spoken to many people who have them! and people with silly triggers like whistling and grandmothers - both of which are triggers of mine - know that they’re silly or weird. we know that it hinders us in serious ways, and we know we can’t “function in the real world.” making fun of triggers actively softens and delegitimizes a very serious issue that a large host of neurodivergent people need to deal with. being triggered doesn’t mean “upset.” it means to have a very visceral response to something that many may not have, usually rooting from trauma. sometimes a trigger means flashbacks, panic attacks, and/or bouts of violent anger. people have delegitimized that, dumbed it down to “upset” or “angry”. it has made neurodivergent people, including me, feel uncomfortable using the word “trigger” with doctors, therapists, friends, or public spaces. people who have triggers do not want to be treated as jokes. we don’t want to be laughed at when we say “that triggers me, so please don’t do it again”. the meme has now reached influential, big people like markiplier, and is starting to do major damage to a lot of neurodivergent people. we want to be respected. “triggered” should have never turned into a meme. and i expect an apology from markiplier for normalizing what has become a harmful joke for many. i don’t expect people to cater to me for every little thing they say or do, but i do expect people to be respectful about something serious that a host of neurodivergent people struggle with. i want an apology.