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Someone needs to stop him and his dangerous dialogue

My uncle for sure has an undiagnosed touch of the tism. That man is way too into model trains to be fully neurotypical.

Def. a component. Grandpa Harry was bipolar, and was institutionalized once when he really ran off the rails. Grandma Etta snuck lithium salt into his coffee to smooth him out thereafter. But we don't have autistic stories as such.

That uneducated arse knows nothing about autism. The expert who diagnosed my child told us that he regularly spots undiagnosed cases in adults, inc one member of his extended family who is a fighter pilot in the RAF. If they don't need help, why tell them they do? It's a spectrum. It's diversity.

Also a diagnosis costs some time and potentially significant money.

^ Why I'm not bothering. Apparently it's difficult to do here as an AFAB *or* an adult, let alone both, and our healthcare system is pretty overloaded.

Learning at 60 years old turned my life upside down. I "managed" life, yeah. That's masking. Only after I unmasked did I see how going undx'd crippled so much potential. Maybe I could have handled my mental illnesses. Maybe I would have learned to shut off all those goddam lights.

Watched an elderly man sitting in front of me on the bus shuffle through his meticulous scrapbook on military vehicles, every single detail about each one, and another handwritten list organised by model number. But sure, autism is brand new.

RFK spectacularly fails to recognise today's altered criteria & wide diagnostic spectrum, leading to vastly increased numbers of those diagnosed. How is he so stupid?

Also, yeah...developmental "disorders" are most commonly diagnosed in children....because they're, you know, developing. I think his brainworm is more qualified than him.

for that matter, have you ever tried getting diagnosed at 20+

At 25, I started reading about the struggles of autistic people and went "oh". I have to imagine some people do the same at 35, 45, 75...

That is such an interesting connection. Never thought about that before! Perfect analogy.

My great-uncle Jack who died many years ago was “touched in the head.” The description I’ve gotten from family matches autism to a T. But getting diagnosed in the South in the early 20th century wasn’t happening.

As an adult who thinks they have autism but has never been screened for any sort of conditions like autism, these developments make me feel like I'm even less likely to get an answer anytime soon. If anyone knows any good resources for adults looking for autism screenings pls help me out.

My 26-yr-old is *currently* getting the dx. The lack of it nearly killed her as psychosis destroyed her life, and ignorant psychs would say, "she isn't presenting as typically psychotic." I'm 53 and clearly on the spectrum (but I mask with performance) and don't need the dx but RFK Jr is a monster

fr I was diagnosed with adhd at 25 and my mom DEFINITELY has similar symptoms and seems concerned like she wants to fix them, but won't seek out treatment. and yeah obvs she doesn't have to, but she was asking me questions lol.

Years of messianic devotion to tracing autism to vaccines despite all scientific evidence, and only now has anyone asked ol’ Bob to “define autism”.

It's diagnosed in adults, too. RFK Jr. is simply uneducated, ignorant and stupid, and doesn't have a fully functioning brain. It's safe to ignore what he thinks, but not safe to ignore what he does.

There’s no way I’m alone with the whole getting one’s kid diagnosed makes one realize that the super smart, absentminded professor spouse also has autism, and the unbearable mother-in-law also has it. It’s not an epidemic. It clearly has a genetic component.

*niche

That dude that puts bear carcasses in his car cuz he's late for a flight. What fucking world are we living in?!

Pfft! Any peasant can just walk into a store and buy a bike! I mean, what do they cost? A mere $5,000? Only a true blue-blood can afford a stable of falcons and a training course at a falconer training camp in the Mongolian steppes. 🧐

My mom with genealogy and gardening

So true. A friend who was ~50 y.o. and I went to a movie about autism spectrum. Afterwards, I asked if he had ever wondered if he was on the spectrum. I said I thought a lot of people, including myself might be. He was furious. We never spoke again.

Apparently we're unicorns or something 🙄

And then there's those of us who accept that we likely are, but just can't be assed to get it confirmed.

“Well, what if the mother is autistic, too?” “Unthinkable! Females are naturally hardwired to be nurturing caretakers! If she’s being cold and strange, she’s probably doing it out of spite! If her brain was truly broken, her parents or husband would’ve shipped her off to an asylum by now!”

"I'm not autistic!" says boomer with thousands of dollars worth of model train sets.

Oh, I have. Went thru extended autism training just a few years back, and there are several people in my extended family tree who are on the spectrum & none of them have been diagnosed.

Check out Prosper Health. They do adult assessments online and they take insurance.

I got asked about the same thing, which was hard because a lot of my childhood is lost to the void 😂

Not sure what your coverage situation is, but my medical insurance covered my assessment!

All these videos on tik tok of people being cheeky saying they’ve no idea where they got their autism and then standing in front of their dad’s massive train collection or action figure collection or mom’s with various massive collections of very special interest things

the thing about it is he is saying what the median school committee believes about people on the spectrum

basically non verbal, in need of full support. because by then he can just deny it's autism and call them the r word.

honestly has he looked in a mirror?

Well I know my birth mother, not 60 but getting up there, shows symptoms, says she'll never get it diagnosed..../even though me, my lil brother, my niece AND my uncle(her blood related brother) have Autism

Gee I wonder why people keep saying we have no empathy or sense of community.

99% sure my grandpa was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia. He meets more autism boxes than I do, and I'm diagnosed.

Thanks for sharing that. 🙂

I was diagnosed at 50. I knew there were some ADHD issues early on, but I avoided looking further. Big swaths of my life make more sense now that I realize I am autistic. Much more of my daily life as well. I turn 51 net week. It's been a hard year, but much less confusing then most.

Most of the tests are geared toward children and my insurance for example won't cover an autism test after 18. doctors have even told me it's kind of a why bother to get a diagnosis as an adult

Because in their head "autism" is associated with "retard" and they treat the latter word as a slur.

There's also the part where if you are diagnosed as a child, you shouldn't need one later as an adult.

Apparently RFK Jr got mercury poisoning from eating just so much canned tuna. Something something glass houses or whatever

Yes.

(Raises hand) I was 44...

A friend of mine literally just found out she's on the spectrum in her mid-30s

There's also the fact that getting diagnosed as an adult involves a months-long waiting list and multiple thousands of dollars. So, even if you suspect, do you really want to jump through those hoops -- especially if you've been living a functional life this whole time?

There is no such thing as someone who is clearly autistic.

I was diagnosed at 55.

RFK Jr is like the concept of ignorance left out in the sun to dry up and concentrate like a raisin.

This just sounds like something David Lynch would have done if he lived for another decade 😔

This is the best thing ever

As an autistic person, i thank you for adding that last line.

y’all talking about old guys who aren’t autistic with train sets?

elon vs rfkjr in an autism off

cool shit tho

yeah this is a very common experience for us from the MA/NH border area.

I’m from south of Boston. I had no idea, sometimes I think I imagined it because no one but my sisters (who also made this trip to visit my dad’s friend) ever heard of anything like this.

In retrospect, pretty sure a neighborhood dad we lived next door to growing up was on the spectrum and the guy was an amazing science nerd who taught us kids how gunpowder is made and how to split water into hydrogen and oxygen via electrolysis. Dude ruled.

I think you are my favorite follow on this site for many reasons

your neighbor sounds like the absolute coolest guy, what a delight, I wish him well.

Like, what I'm saying is it's ironic how sometimes I relate more to older people who are like, "There's nothing wrong with it, it's just not me, I'M TOTALLY NOT BEING DEFENSIVE AT ALL!!" Than those infuriatingly lucky SOBs who got five-ten years or so to have hyperpop and shit just before....

My grandfather was so obviously autistic. He had texture issues with food, horrible at most social situations, temper tantrums, obsessive about his hobbies. When my brother got diagnosed I said "Papa, [brother] is a lot like you. Maybe you're autistic." And he tried to beat me for that

Most autistic women or AFAB people I know got diagnosed in adulthood, too

My therapist told me, that as an adult, the only thing a diagnosis will do is allow myself to legally require accommodations from places I work, maybe. And also makes traveling outside the country harder. Everything else is just learning how to take care of yourself the way your brain wants.

Right? And these 70 and 80 year olds who have the oddest collections and special interests they’ve held their whole life, rigid schedules and bedtimes, it’s almost like they would have been diagnosed but they masked and struggled through life instead…

To me, that sounds like the Nazi euthanasia programs of 1930. #impeachment NOW or never #dictatortrump #putinspuppet

And here I am, who got diagnosed too late (in 7th grade) to qualify for needed services as a autistic person

"would you like to see the home movies of my 2nd grade assembly when a teacher was specifically designated to ensure I remained standing in place and facing the audience?"

My mother, who is very clearly on the spectrum as much as my father is (and all three of us kids), absolutely flipped out when I suggested it to her. She was of the “debutante” generation where they literally taught young girls how to mask and called it “etiquette classes”.

When people educate themselves about the various traits exhibited by people who are autistic, they realize that they, or someone they know, is on the spectrum. We’re talking fully functioning adults, successful in a variety of careers, some with partners, some without, happily enjoying their lives.

My mom is probably where I got my own brand of neurospice. She will often describe to me a *very autistic thing* happening to her and my suggestions come across as mind-blowing revelations. I neglect to tell her that I'm just passing on autistic coping skills that I learned over time.

"Why do you want a diagnosis, now?" There's no IEP for retirees.

betcha a lot of the mental health cases on the street are them undiagnosed autistics - which is why you can't get through to them - making 'em NPC.

Didn’t Kennedy see “Rain Man”?

I know a handful of parents that got diagnosed when their children did.

I was married to my wife for 10 years before I found out she didn't know she was autistic. Like she had to fight off meltdown when the fire alarm went off at our old apartment.

Literally just had this exact convo with an older in-law.

-- boy-howdy did the literature and experiences match me and my experiences. I still haven't been diagnosed by a professional. I can't afford to, and I don't see a need to, but I do think I'm somewhere on the spectrum around AuDHD, especially taking-in the early "*Manic* Depression" diagnoses. 2/2

Walt Disney

I do too.

It’s like you grew up in my husband’s house.

Also, virtually anyone who ever joined an artist colony in the 1960s, all the modernist writers and artists who picked up and moved to Paris in the 1920s… Modernism + Surrealism was basically Media Analysis SpIn!Autism: The Artistic Movement.

Disney Land was 100% in part an excuse to have a full sized train for him lmao

Big trains or little trains? What if you had access to the real things?

I agree!

I've been adjacent to model railroad fandom via my dad my whole life, and lemme tell ya... Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, in that hobby is allistic.