The Paradox of Perception: Society’s Misguided Fascination with ASD

During my late-night rumination sessions, the one thing I frequently obsess over is when I was asked about things that have been normalized by society that I find strange. In that exact moment, I couldn’t think of anything, but the more I think about that question, the more I realise that people recognize struggle as an opportunity to be labelled different. To be labelled ‘different’ means that you’re demonized, or alienated from society but it could also mean that you’re seen as ‘superior’, or it could even garner sympathy from your peers who would consider themselves ‘normal’.

ASD would be a perfect example of this. As a teenage girl, I basically live on the internet, which means that I’ve seen how people have self-diagnosed themselves based on silly TikToks which falsely portray perfectly normal behaviour as neurodivergent traits. ASD has been portrayed on the media as some cutesy quirk when both children and adults struggle to co-exist with their neurotypical peers.

Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with my ASD. I love it, because I think that’s why I’m so analytical and I love how I’m never afraid to speak my mind. On the other hand, I can never understand why anyone would wish this on themselves. This isn’t just social anxiety. This is hours of preparing conversations beforehand and then overanalysing every word afterward. It’s the pain of not being able to understand the jokes or the sarcastic remarks. It’s being overwhelmed from even the smallest of noises, and then the shutdowns and meltdowns which follow. I wish more people were educated on ASD, because then less people would ‘wish’ they had it.

To conclude on my little tangent, I’d like to highlight that everybody’s different in their own way. Wishing an illness, or a disability on yourself isn’t going to make you any more important than you already are.

Signing off,

Anna.