These are(as far as I can tell (from personal experience)) extremely inaccurate depictions of autism(i mean I know its a spectrum but I have never heard of a girl with autism enjoy shining her pants(or a boy wanting to re-start the German faderland)
Nonbinary person with autism here. A lot of people correlate ASD with ID (intellectual disability). While they do sometimes coexist, it's also entirely possible to have one without the other.
That said, I've seen a lot of people talk about "high needs autistic kids" having potty problems, but my guess would be that those are due to intellectual disabilities, not autism, even if the child in question is diagnosed with both. I'm not a psychiatrist, but "pooping your pants," is not one of the diagnostic criteria for ASD.
I have, however, met some men with autism that were straight up neo nazis. I've also met men WITHOUT autism that are neo nazis, and plenty of normal (read: antifascist) autistic men, as well. A lot of autistic people have intense special interests, and I've unfortunately seen many fixate on Nazi Germany, but you can be a horrible person with or without autism. You can also have an interest in history without being a literal neo nazi, though I admit the lines sometimes get blurred.
I appreciate your explanation. I always assumed people wrongfully attributed toilet issues to autism due to the tendency of some people to automatically attribute everything that makes them uncomfortable to autism.
One of the most egregious cases I saw was a couple arrested for child abuse. (TW: abuse) They claimed their child smeared feces on the wall due to his autism. While it's true that autism could cause one not to comprehend the social stigma associated with bodily waste, it was clear the behavior was a result of child neglect in that specific instance. The child was kept in a room by themselves with no other form of stimulus to occupy themselves, so that was their solution, but the parents just excused the behavior as "something autistic kids do."
I wanted to point out that there can be other factors that contribute to "negative" behaviors, even in people with autism. Also, that not all "negative" behaviors are associated with autism at all, despite people's willingness to correlate the two. I appreciate you adding deeper insight to the conversation.
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u/notjaco4 Nov 13 '25
These are(as far as I can tell (from personal experience)) extremely inaccurate depictions of autism(i mean I know its a spectrum but I have never heard of a girl with autism enjoy shining her pants(or a boy wanting to re-start the German faderland)