Disclaimer: As an autistic person every time I say something, I almost always accidentally offend someone. Please know that I am just trying to understand the black experience and am curious if black people in the USA have felt similarly to me in terms of how people treat you.

I know that being autistic is a disability and being black is not and I’m definitely not trying to say that being black is a disorder. That being said, I also feel that most of the reasons that I am considered disabled has to do with the way that society treats me not because there’s something intrinsically wrong with being autistic. In autistic people, the brain processes information differently, which can lead to differences in social communication, sensory experiences, and repetitive behaviors.

I’ve spent my whole life masking my autistic traits so that people will bully me less. As a result, most people can’t even tell I’m autistic even after they’ve known me for a while. This takes a huge toll on my mental health, though.

The negative stereotypes about autism often cause people to unintentionally say things that are hurtful or dismissive. I think of my autism as something neutral, like having some Italian heritage. Here are a few things that people say when they find out I’m autistic, but I’m going to switch out autism with Italian, so you can understand how strange these comments sound to me.

1. I’m so sorry to hear that (you’re Italian)

2. You don’t look (Italian) at all, are you sure that genetic test you took is accurate?

3. Don’t worry, you don’t even (smell like garlic)

4. How can you be (Italian) if you’re not even (in the mafia)

5. Every one is a little (Italian)

6. I read about a diet that can completely cure (you from being Italian)

I feel like most of the difficulties that I have are do to our culture’s intolerance of diversity. That’s why I wonder if the black experience is similar. I feel that black lives are actually endangered in our country just because they aren’t white. In a similar way, I feel most of autistic people’s disabilities come from living in a society that was created for neurotypical people. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I feel like a culture where differences were celebrated and oppression wasn’t tolerated would really help everyone. I don’t understand why there is such resistance to this idea.