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Hi. I am an autistic adult. NTs have frequently described me as childlike. PLEASE DON'T DO THIS.
This language reinforces harmful and infantilizing stereotypes that lead to all kinds of injustices, including the restriction of autistic people's civil rights.
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This language reinforces harmful and infantilizing stereotypes that lead to all kinds of injustices, including the restriction of autistic people's civil rights.
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That alone should give you pause. An adult is an adult. Theories of "mental age" are outdated pseudo-science and they do real harm.
But also? That's just a really sad way to think about adulthood, childhood, and wonder.
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But also? That's just a really sad way to think about adulthood, childhood, and wonder.
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I think y'all call us "childlike" primarily because we tend to be more forthcoming & less restricted in what we share with others, & we tend to express interest, wonder, & fascination more readily.
Those at least are the traits that have prompted people to call me childlike.
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Those at least are the traits that have prompted people to call me childlike.
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It makes me really sad that so many neurotypical adults have categorized caginess as "adult," and openness and fascination as "childlike."
Like, the world is there for you to have tons of fun in! It's okay if it blows your mind--it probably *should* blow your mind!
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Like, the world is there for you to have tons of fun in! It's okay if it blows your mind--it probably *should* blow your mind!
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I have a PhD in Hebrew Bible, and my favorite verse is the charge to love God with "all your heart and all your breath/soul/life-force and all meodecha."
That last word is usually translated "your strength," but it's more like "your muchness."
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That last word is usually translated "your strength," but it's more like "your muchness."
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I think people call autistics childlike because we tend to love people and things and interests with all our muchness. But anyone can! Even people who hit all their developmental markers at the average time, lol!
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You can stim and play and talk about your interests and react emotionally to things and be open about your feelings, whether you're autistic or not.
Those are all perfectly fine things for adults to do!
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Those are all perfectly fine things for adults to do!
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But at the end of the day, at the very least don't erase the fact that autistic adults are adults. Whether we work or not, whether we have sex or not, whether we have children or not, whether we live with our parents or not, we're adults. Treat us like adults.
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And look, if you call yourself childlike, that's perfectly valid! But the tweet saying autistic people are childlike and you should befriend us was super-condescending and didn't sound like it was written by someone who knows a single autistic person.
