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Ableism

Writer: Jade
Jade
Oct 5
2 min read

Ableism is a common term in mental health. It is a discrimination against people with disabilities. It can show up in many ways, but I want to talk about the less obvious sayings that may be ableism. These are some common phrases people use to the lower support needs autistic community. I also want to add that just because someone is lower support needs, does not mean they are no support needs.


  1. "You don't look autistic"

    There is no look to autism and this implies that we are supposed to have some sort of "look". It is rude to say to someone about any disability really.

  2. "Everyone is a little bit autistic"

    This is dismissive to those who actually struggle with this disability. A symptom or two is not a diagnosis. It is a symptom. You have to have a certain amount of criteria to actually be autistic and a lot of people who say this do not meet that criteria.

  3. "You seem normal"

    This implies that autistic people are never going to fit in to neurotypical people. Just because we are different, does not mean we aren't "normal". Nobody is the same.

  4. "Are you good at math?"

    This puts unrealistic expectations on some individuals. There are autistic savants, but there are also autistic people with intellectual disabilities. There are also autistic people who are just the average person and I fall under that category personally. Hearing this always makes me feel dumb. I am not good at math.

  5. "Others have it worse"

    In my opinion, this is one of the worse ones for anyone really. It may be true, but we are always taught not to compare ourselves to people and that is literally what this is. I hate it and it makes me feel like my feelings are not valid. I'm sure there are others who feel the same.

  6. "You're not like ____, so you can't be autistic"

    Autism looks different in everyone and this dismisses the struggle of whoever you are speaking to.


This is just a few ableist phrases. I wanted to add in functioning labels, but I have another post you can read for that. I will link it below. There are so many more phrases that are harmful to autistic people or anyone who is disabled really. I also have a post on things that do not help autistic people. I will link that as well. Please be careful what words you use to speak to someone who is autistic. I want everyone to feel comfortable with communication. It is hard enough for those of us who are autistic as it is. Feel free to comment phrases you have heard or been told personally. I appreciate all of you for reading!


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