IMO, one of the most annoying consequences of people treating autism like it's just quirky special interests and nothing else is that people will say "autism isn't an excuse for [known symptom or common trait of autism, including actual diagnostic criteria]" with no irony.
I've seen "autism isn't an excuse to be a picky eater," "autism isn't an excuse to struggle with tone/misread sarcasm in a post," "autism isn't an excuse to be bad at social cues" (with the comment of "literally just go out and learn by talking to people, it's not that hard," as if autistic people don't already do that), "autism isn't an excuse to not make eye contact, that's so rude," "autism isn't an excuse to wear headphones in class or work, nobody else gets to do that," and "autism isn't an excuse to be unemployed/live with your parents/not leave the house enough" (wondering if this person has any idea HSN autistic people exist?). Some people here are like half a drink away from saying having flat affect is "literally weaponized incompetence!!!" or something. I'm starting to wonder what you people think autism even is. Because if you've found a way for autistic people to turn off the most basic symptoms (like sensory sensitivity or difficulty with social settings), that's news and you need to share your incredible findings with the world immediately.
(Disclaimer in case one is necessary: I am not talking about assholes trying to use autism as an excuse for bigotry, like white tumblr users being racist about rap or musk's nazi salute. I am talking about things that autism symptoms actually cause, including things that are completely harmless to others but are treated as problems simply because allistic people find them weird or annoying.)
