Work Colleagues throwing terms like 'autistic' and 'on the spectrum' around.

[Charlize43]

I just wondered if anyone else is experiencing this and whether it is the norm with younger people to use these terms freely?

I am currently working with a group of twenty-somethings (average age around 27) and we also work with volunteers of all ages. My colleagues are quite a judgy bunch and on downtime they often spend their time discussing the volunteers using terms like 'I think he/she is autistic / on the spectrum.'

I'm 57 and didn't grow up with those terms. People were described as shy if they were socially awkward, for example... I hear these terms thrown around all day, often in what feels like a derogatory way, like describing a volunteer who is really enthusiastic and passionate about a hobby - 'I think she's autistic / on the spectrum'.

Maybe it's because I'm old but I find it all a bit annoying... Is this the norm for younger people? Has anyone else experienced this?

I don't hear it much, but like you, do not think it should be used as an insult.

It's my colleagues in that age bracket who tell anyone who'll listen how they personally are autistic/have ADHD etc.

I hear this a lot. My female friends will use it when moaning about their husbands - ‘he’s on the spectrum/autistic’ (when they’re not).

Doesn’t sound great. Especially if someone isn’t on the spectrum! I believe there are some links between autism and pollution. People have a wide range of behaviours - most people are ambiverted which means a mixture of extroverted and introverted.

I’ve had jobs that are 100% about being sociable, friendly and building relationships and my coworkers there probably wouldn’t recognise the report running, data collecting me in my jobs now. Yet both can exist simultaneously. Most of us have multiple facets to our personalities.

It’s very reductive to look at the sim of a person’s attributes and made an uninformed snap judgement like this.

I think I have adhd. So does my psychiatrist friend who first helped me piece together my meltdown. I'm scared to approach my GP about it because of the current number of people who are self diagnosing, and the backlash from the panorama programme. So I've just carried on not functioning properly.

I hear it a lot, but not only from people who are self-diagnosed. One friend is diagnosed with adhd, has 3 children with the same diagnosis… and she’s still throwing it around like trying to diagnose everyone around her.

Autsim is a relatively new thing - l mean it isn't but 40 years ago, nobody had heard of it.
I genuinely believe if my cousin was at school now, someone would have picked up on it and we would have a diagnosis, she ticks so many of the boxes.
So l think there are lots of people in their 40's and 50's who have autism, we just didn't know it as they have never been diagnosed.
But the causual references of course are not acceptable.

I felt like this for years even before it took off as a 'fad' and waited 4 years when, at breaking point, I couldn't go on anymore. I've got my diagnosis now, and every day still has its challenges, but I wish I'd done it sooner.

My beef is with those who decide to 'adopt' ADHD as their attention-seeking trend of the month or for some perceived special benefit to the detriment of the genuine. I think there is real risk that the public perception of ADHD, Autism, etc., will be negatively affected.

I just think it’s best to not judge if we’re not qualified. I don’t know who really has it or who might possibly be attention seeking. And attention seeking can be a part of having ADHD for example.

Well its constant on here, every other thread is a suggestion that a child or partner is ND, usually from people who have ND disorders themselves so they feel that others do too.

Same here. My (diagnosed) OCD has nothing to do with being clean. It's to do with having to do everything in sets of 4 and equal on both sides (so stepping on cracks in pavements an equal amount with each foot in sets of 4, if I use one hand to open a door I need to use the other hand to open the next one and so on)

It's got (somewhat) better as I've got older but in my teens and 20s it was pretty debilitating just having to keep track of everything I did to ensure it was all equal.

It's pretty annoying to hear people laugh about 'being a bit OCD' when it's something that has actually affected my life so much!

@ThatHeSaidSheSaid

When I say anyone, I mean each other. Why would I report it when they are all calling themselves and each other this happily?

Being diagnosed as ND is painful and not something to brag about or a term to throw around lightly in my experience.