The Bestiary of Autism - A guide to all forms of autism you may encounter

[GethN7]

Excellent work.

The one addendum I'd suggest would be something I've seen referred to as Cardboard Castle syndrome elsewhere on the internet, but I'm not sure if it's warranted. Several cows are completely defined by the concept though to the point where it outshines all their other forms of autistic behavior.

Cardboard Castle autists see someone do something (building a castle) and gaining respect and fame from it. They rationalize that if they do the same they'll receive a similar amount of praise, so they set out to do the thing on their own and eventually succeed to the extent that whatever they create is markedly and visibly inferior to the original. The autism comes from their complete and utter inability to differentiate quality between the original medium and their interpretation of it, to it to the point where they violently reject anything they can interpret as criticism ("Hey, is your castle made out of cardboard? It looks good!") and utter belief that they can do no wrong and their backwards, self-taught methods must be adequate and/or superior because they worked So Hard on them.

Andrew Dobson and YandereDev/EvaXephon are the two examples I can think of prominently.

The important differentiation here is that while artcows who make terrible art are common, they can change. Tim Buckley and Rob Liefeld for example have both taken criticism to heart and moved on to the point where their art is competent. Dobson now is indistinguishable from Dobson in 2013.

I added the Imitationist Autist, based on your suggestion.

 

[GethN7]

Excellent analysis on autists, @GethN7.

@x86x2 (Barneyfag) would definitely fit in the Trollshielder, Anti-Autism, Conspiracy Theorist, Laser-Guided, Fan, Raging, Respect Mah Authoritah, and (maybe?) Artificial categories. Or should there be a special category dedicated to autists like him known as "The 'Barneyfag' Autist" which combines all these traits?

Since there's a "Fan" category, I wonder if there's an "Anti-Fan Autist" category out there. That would identify autists like Barneyfag who are an antithesis to fans in which they hyper-focus on hating something to the point where it has power over their lives.

That's yet another aspect of the fan autist.

In his case, his claim to fame is his bizarre hatred of Barney And Friends, which, ironically, has a fandom, though he represents taking it to lolcow extremes.

 

[Acceptable]

this is fucking awesome. it would also be nice to add their "most likely habitats" as in where you can usually find them. e.g. deviant art, twitter, tumblr, or what ever website it might be. different autists definitely have their preference. i just think it would be cool to have it as a bullet point for each autist.

 

[GethN7]

this is fucking awesome. it would also be nice to add their "most likely habitats" as in where you can usually find them. e.g. deviant art, twitter, tumblr, or what ever website it might be. different autists definitely have their preference. i just think it would be cool to have it as a bullet point for each autist.

Good idea. I'll do some research and try to add that later.

 

[BILLY MAYS]

what about @Thomas Jay Wasserberg?

 

[Pop-Tart]

What about the TFW 2 SMRT™ autist. The kinda that likes to hear them-self talk and constantly has to tell you their IQ in the most condescendingly manner possible. A good example would be Xsquader.

 

[fortunecookie]

This should be included in the DSM.

 

[GethN7]

what about @Thomas Jay Wasserberg?

He's a bit of a potpourri of multiple blends of autist, pinning him down to any one particular subtype would be a bit difficult.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Is there a kind who is obsessed with being normal to the point where they dare not do anything perceived as abnormal? Those obsessed with following rules to an insane degree?

[OP post]

A good TL;DR summary would be "those who can't into moderation in all things?"

124 IQ would definitely fall under the sex-obsessed type.

 

[GethN7]

Is there a kind who is obsessed with being normal to the point where they dare not do anything perceived as abnormal? Those obsessed with following rules to an insane degree?


A good TL;DR summary would be "those who can't into moderation in all things?"

124 IQ would definitely fall under the sex-obsessed type.

The first sounds like an aspect of anti-autism autist, who seeks to deny having autism by, ironically, autistically obsessing over acting neurotypically.

The second sound like the authority obsessed autist, as they love rules and procedures, they just try to loophole themselves out of those same rules.

 

[Aurelia]

I've had more interaction with Autistic females as opposed to males. The females tend to get diagnosed late, so they often have mental health issues alongside their Autism. They haven't had assistance with coping with sensory overload or emotional dysregulation. They've had to get by on their own. I have also met some males who fall into this category due to their age (Asperger's became more known in the 90s), so they were diagnosed with anxiety disorders (presenting issues). They couldn't understand what was different/odd about them or why they felt they didn't quite belong. So, a lot of anger arises at having been missed by the system. This may tie in with your observations in #3 and #8. Have you ever interacted with a personality disordered autist?

The awkward autistic males I have met have been loners and have had an interest in gaming, computers, developing games and other such stuff. I'd call that the "stereotype" autistic. Auties seem to have become synonymous with IT related things and there are even special programs for getting auties jobs in this field.

There is also the pretending to be non-autistic autist, people with autism mimicking others and trying to act normal. More common with females, especially during childhood and adolescense. If this fails they go the opposite deviant way e.g. punk, goth, alternative... whatever.

According to one lady, there are the heartless autists (http://heartlessaspergers.com/)

There is the "why do they need so much therapy and sensory tools autists" - usually children and teens who have received early intervention (tons of it) but still are hopeless with daily living. The parents tend to insist they need ongoing therapy, but don't want to do anything themselves.

The over-apologetic autist. Individuals who apologise incessantly about any social faux pas. Autists don't have the right hardware for social engagement, so even if you study social work, psychology, social interaction, human evolution or whatever in depth you'll still screw up at some point (b/c of tiredness, overwhelm, lack of social interaction) due to it not being innate.

There are also the autistic parents of children with autism. Now that makes an interesting mix. If the mother has Autism she tends to struggle with parenting due to executive function issues and often gets her diagnosis alongside her child. The father tends to be more interested in pursuing his personal interests. If the partner doesn't have autism they usually direct the one with Autism about correct behaviour.

The blogger autist and the venting autist. I've seen more and more of this type come up. They have a need to share the minutiae of their day on FB groups. They will share every anxiety-provoking encounter they've had or how they've been treated unjustly. However, this is also common with non-autistic individuals e.g. Twitter, Instagram, youtube.

The self-diagnosed autist. Some may genuinely have Autism without an intellectual disability but for whatever reason (costs, fear of not getting the diagnosis, irrelevance i.e. self-acknowledgement is good enough) don't seek out a proper diagnosis.

The Autie with intellectual disability, again a "classic Autie".

There is also the "you're not autistic" individual with autism. I fall into this category.

And the world needs to change to accommodate me Autist (b/c I have a 'disability'). The thing that comes to mind with this one is if something is too sensory-stimulating they will demand things to be shut off or changed e.g. I recall this one post from a guy with autism who didn't like the graphics on a particular site and expected the owners to change it to accommodate him. Again this isn't something strictly seen among Auties.

 

[Chaos Theorist]

And the world needs to change to accommodate me Autist (b/c I have a 'disability'). The thing that comes to mind with this one is if something is too sensory-stimulating they will demand things to be shut off or changed e.g. I recall this one post from a guy with autism who didn't like the graphics on a particular site and expected the owners to change it to accommodate him. Again this isn't something strictly seen among Auties.

You just do what I do and try and block out reality and the real world so it doesn't set off any sensory problems.

 

[GethN7]

I have added a new type of autist to my list, the "Self Appointed Hero" Autist.

See OP for full description.

 

[Hexenbiest1995]

Perfect

 

[DragoonSierra]

The Archivist Autist:

The person who must document and archive everything related to Autists. This activity may bleed into other areas of interest.

Prime examples: @GethN7 @Jaimas @Smutley Archivist Becks

 

[Sweetpeaa]

Sadly, every person in these categories would either be diagnosed in the absolute ''upper end'' of the spectrum or not diagnosed at all. Most Autistic people, even moderately Autistic people have substantial trouble with communication. They only have a limited vocabulary and their understanding of the internet is very rudimentary (may be able to type or do a search with help from a caregiver).

The standard for diagnosis have changed over the years, a pre-break down Chris Chan wouldn't even meet the criteria for today's standard of Autism as crazy as that sounds.

 

[Ozma (ZeTrannyJanny)]

what about the footfag autist that uses the same username everywhere