the term "autistic" pretty much lost all meaning since its an umbrella term for a bunch of very different traits.
The DSM-V combined together a bunch of old disorders with largely overlapping symptoms and no consistent differentiation at the diagnostic level.
It's my impression that people now use the term autism is for pretty much any sort of neurodiversity (and even for traits within neuronormal, e.g. likes math).
For what it's worth Wikipedia says, ASD is:
> a neurodevelopmental disorder by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a need or strong preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing differences, focused interests, and repetitive behaviors.
Would you say this is stereotyping ASD?
I'm not trying to be combative but genuinely want to understand.
Wikipedia's definition is fine; it's describing the real diagnostic criteria, not a stereotype. The crucial thing is that to a third party, those traits won't always be obvious.
One of the axes upon which autistic people vary is their ability to mask those traits. The stereotype is a person with obvious symptoms who cannot (or at least does not) mask them socially. Presentations of autism frequently include some aspect of masking and some ability to "pass" as non-autistic, but with substantial cost and effort to the individual.
> It's my impression that people now use the term autism is for pretty much any sort of neurodiversity (and even for traits within neuronormal, e.g. likes math).
That may be so, but there are also plenty of people with actual diagnoses (and many others who meet the criteria) who don't fit the traditional image of an autistic person.
That's why I object to the claim that the term "autistic" has "lost all meaning." What's been lost is the ability to tell at a glance who is autistic, because the diagnostic manual now applies the criteria consistently regardless of whether their impact is immediately obvious to a stranger.
My personal experience, after getting diagnosed in my late 30s, has been observing the significant effort I spent masking — trying to pass as non-autistic — and choosing to use that energy differently. In that sense, I've probably become a little bit more obviously-autistic than before, but in a way which makes my life easier and more comfortable.
For example I don't have a very strong preference for routine (but it wasn't nice when my parents rearanged furniture in the kids room), I only am overwhelmed by wearing socks a little and sound a lot, like when I was at a hospital and 3 people started playing music from their phones at the same time I had to run away from the room and
I have a wierd body language but I'm very social, though have trouble keeping in touch with people (can be managed using a calendar reminders but it still feels like a chore).
With age you learn to cope with them (some don't do it), like I learned to compensate for my death stare (consiously managing where I look), it is still wierd but less intense. This causes anxiety.
It seems almost like you confirm that autism has become to mean neurodiversity (even in the mildest form). Maybe I should phrase the question different, how do we distinguish between autism and other forms of neurodiversity?
The difference between an idiosyncrasy and a disability is the degree to which it impairs your life.
My need for routines causes anxiety and meltdowns, even at an advanced age. Hearing people chew causes a flight or fight response. I cannot hold conversations in noisy environments. I need support to deal with those things or else I cannot effectively participate in society. I have a disability.
I have a friend who prefers to never use contractions. She can still function just fine even when she must use "can't". She has an idiosyncrasy.
Indeed, the DSM has three levels got two categories of autism. The three levels represent the different support needed to function. "Requires support", "requires substantial support", and "requires very substantial support".
Friend of the family was the same. One day they were very late for the a opera, and for once his wife managed to convince him he didn't need to check so they didn't get even more delayed.
Once out of the opera, he sees countless missed calls. Turned out they had left the stove on with a pot on it, and the massive amounts of smoke had triggered the alarm. The alarm company had alerted the fire brigade which had resolved it.
According to the firemen their house was saved by the fact that lid was on. Otherwise the flames would have gotten to the fat in the range hood and since their home was mostly made of wood that would have been real bad.
So, the one time he skips his check, their house almost burns down. Guess what he kept on doing...
In my understanding the most definig thing is that you don't get body language support "in hardware" but can manage it "in software" (just you write the software youself with no spec and no way to validate the results).
You cant' fix it anyway, so what's the point.
You cannot fix the root cause, nor should you seek to, but you can support people in making their experience easier.
This is an indicator or autism? Because almost everyone would have this reaction. I can't even stand when one person plays music from their phone.
If you feel a fight or flight response to someone playing music, then you might be autistic, but that's certainly not the reaction everyone has.
At a core, it's a sensory integration disorder that makes your life difficult. "Thousands of tabs open in my browser and I don't know which one the sound is coming from".
The ways it manifests itself are many, but usually it's something around not reading social clues that are obvious for normies, taking things literally, not liking specific textures, foods, clothes materials, loud noises, too much unstructured noise and too many people present, either hearing lyrics or the music in the song, that kind of things.
The mixer is broken and when you need to switch the channel or listen to two at the same time you fail at the task at hand.
I think it's becoming more and more clear that the thing we talk about as Autism doesn't exist as a specific condition, but rather what we currently talk about as Autism is probably a syndrome.
I suspect eventually we'll home in on the various underlying genetic, environmental, and social causes and end up being able to categorise individuals as presenting with Autistic traits/Autism syndrome due to x/y/z rather than somebody being classed as Autistic.
Apparently per Hacker News autism is like being left handed. A minor personality quirk that is completely irrelevant in day to day life.