To think you shouldn't be advertising porn on an autism page?

[Steakpienchips]

I have three autistic loved ones, one being my DH and the other two being my DC and my step child.

Myself, DH and DSS use Facebook and a while ago DSS invited me to like a page ran by a young man with autism who made the page to raise awareness about autism/mental health and to provide solidarity to others on the spectrum who may feel alone / struggling. His audience are largely children/teens on the spectrum and then alot of adult women who are on there because they either have autism themselves or have somebody on the spectrum in their family. He has alot of vulnerable followers.

As his page grew in popularity and he discovered memes were popular he would upload funny pictures of himself wearing mankini's or whatever else with funny quotes. Just a bit of fun, nothing especially wrong with that.

Fast forward to now he's made an onlyfans (which is basically porn where you upload photos of yourself naked / masturbating / having sex or whatever else) and he's using the autism page to heavily advertise it and post inappropriate posts about how he "bares all" is dirty and encourages his followers to subscribe.. many of whom are children.

A couple of days ago he uploaded a screenshot to the page purporting to show a message from a married man saying how his porn profile arouses him more than his wife ever has, and then boasted that the 'married man' and his wife both follow the page. Cue a huge backlash and he then deleted the post.

Suffice to say DSS has been told in no uncertain terms to unfollow and unlike the page immediately.

AIBU to think he's out of line for using the autism community in this way given his target audience are primarily young teenagers with autism or the mothers of children with autism?

A few months ago I was shown a Facebook page called Marcus' Autism journey,

I have a lot of experience with autism. He doesn’t come across as autistic at all.

Really, a lot of experience huh? So what qualifies you to say he "doesn't come across as autistic?" I mean you've never met the guy for a start. You can't always tell someone is autistic, even in real life and if you had a lot of experience with autism like you claim then you'd know that. I'm sick of people who say they have a lot of experience with autism questioning autistic people's diagnosis on the basis that they don't fit the very narrow view of autism that you have. I'd love to know your grounds for thinking he doesn't "seem autistic" though. Last time i challenged someone on a similar assertion they came back with a load of stereotypes, things like "he makes great eye contact, has a very expressive voice, understands sarcasm and tells jokes." Funnily enough they claimed to have a lot of experience with autism too. Which of course turned out to be total bullshit.

If there was no way to tell they wouldn’t be disproportionately be bullied as much, but they are. Even if you can’t describe a look to a T there are still a variety of things that give people gut feelings.

They're bullied for being different, not for being autistic specifically. That's how people know who to bully, anyone who doesn't conform. Lots of people get picked on at school for being nerdy/geeky/gender non-conforming - none of them are autistic though. It's being different in any way that makes you a target unfortunately.
But you seem to be suggesting that autistic people get bullied because other people can tell they're autistic. Given that most people know fuck all about autism beyond stereotypes i somehow doubt that.
What is this "look" you speak of? How do you think us autistic people look?

@JanMeyer I've had people express surprise that I'm autistic because I don't 'look' or 'act' autistic, whatever that means. A lot of women are also very good at hiding it or 'masking'. Do people expect me to flap my hands or something?

I've had people express surprise that I'm autistic because I don't 'look' or 'act' autistic, whatever that means. A lot of women are also very good at hiding it or 'masking'. Do people expect me to flap my hands or something?

When people say someone doesn't "look or act autistic," it seems like they think anyone who isn't severely autistic, non-verbal and easy to spot as disabled - isn't really autistic. Because that's the only view of autism most people seem to have. People are obsessed with hand-flapping as a marker of "real autism." It's one stim of many. But in the eyes of some people it's THE STIM, the deciding proof that a person is "properly autistic."
Which i find hilarious to be honest with you, not least because my brother is severely autistic, but he's not a handflapper. He's a verbal stimmer, animal noises mostly - his obsession.

My DH is somebody who unless you knew very well, you would never know he isn't neurotypical. He presents as no different to anybody else in the work place.

It was only after moving in with him I realised he was ever so slightly different. He didn't find out himself that he had autism until he was in his thirties and that only came about after his two children were diagnosed and he examined the genetic link.

@JanMeyer

I've had people express surprise that I'm autistic because I don't 'look' or 'act' autistic, whatever that means. A lot of women are also very good at hiding it or 'masking'. Do people expect me to flap my hands or something?

When people say someone doesn't "look or act autistic," it seems like they think anyone who isn't severely autistic, non-verbal and easy to spot as disabled - isn't really autistic. Because that's the only view of autism most people seem to have. People are obsessed with hand-flapping as a marker of "real autism." It's one stim of many. But in the eyes of some people it's THE STIM, the deciding proof that a person is "properly autistic."
Which i find hilarious to be honest with you, not least because my brother is severely autistic, but he's not a handflapper. He's a verbal stimmer, animal noises mostly - his obsession.

I do stim but it's not hand flapping, I only do that when I'm stressed. My stims are things like picking at my skin or playing with my hair or things like pencils.

I'm what people would have called 'high functioning' (a term I don't like) in the old days. I think people have to spend a certain amount of time with me before they start to twig that I'm autistic, because it's not super obvious. I mean, I can do stuff like eye contact but it's hard.

I don't know who the guy the OP is talking about is, but one thing I will say is BOUNDARIES. By all means have an OnlyFans, but keep that shit off Facebook. I'm wondering if it's because he has trouble with boundaries and knowing what is/isn't appropriate. Some autistic people do.

I briefly followed Marcus Mitchell on Instagram as I had seen some of his memes and thought they were quite funny. I unfollowed partly because it was all a bit samey and got a bit tired quite quickly, but also partly there was just something a bit off about it all? I'm not saying that just because he has autism he can't be funny or do his own thing just like NT people can, but it just felt a little bit exploitative and that he might be vulnerable or something?

Now that I have seen this it has confirmed that I was right to feel off about it. I would worry about a vulnerable young man being exploited here. I don't know how high or low functioning he is or what support he has in place, but it just doesn't seem right?And also obviously that this stuff is not suitable for children who might follow him.

I don't know how high or low functioning he is or what support he has in place

Being "high or low functioning" is pretty much irrelevant in terms of whether a person is vulnerable, all "high functioning" means is the person has a normal IQ (over 70, aka no LD) but it has no bearing on how much their autism affects them or how vulnerable that makes them.
Not that they're appropriate terms to be using anyway. "Low functioning" is a bit dehumanizing, and "high functioning" creates a set of expectations that are just wrong. People seem to think HFA = mild autism, no real disability or impairment.

I'm not saying that just because he has autism he can't be funny or do his own thing just like NT people can, but it just felt a little bit exploitative and that he might be vulnerable or something?

Why do you think it's exploitative? You say it's not just because he has autism, but then say he might be vulnerable or something. So it is because he's autistic then, isn't it? Your post is a bit patronising towards autistic people. How nice of you, granting him permission to be funny and do his own thing just like NTs. But then you contradict that by saying it's exploitative, why exactly? You just said it yourself, he's "allowed" to be funny.

@Gingerfish91

I have a lot of experience with autism. He doesn’t come across as autistic at all. I’d be furious if I was his mum. I am the mum of an autistic son the same age.

Of course, he's lacking the special autistic tattoo, isn't he

@JanMeyer

I don't know how high or low functioning he is or what support he has in place

Being "high or low functioning" is pretty much irrelevant in terms of whether a person is vulnerable, all "high functioning" means is the person has a normal IQ (over 70, aka no LD) but it has no bearing on how much their autism affects them or how vulnerable that makes them.
Not that they're appropriate terms to be using anyway. "Low functioning" is a bit dehumanizing, and "high functioning" creates a set of expectations that are just wrong. People seem to think HFA = mild autism, no real disability or impairment.

I'm not saying that just because he has autism he can't be funny or do his own thing just like NT people can, but it just felt a little bit exploitative and that he might be vulnerable or something?

Why do you think it's exploitative? You say it's not just because he has autism, but then say he might be vulnerable or something. So it is because he's autistic then, isn't it? Your post is a bit patronising towards autistic people. How nice of you, granting him permission to be funny and do his own thing just like NTs. But then you contradict that by saying it's exploitative, why exactly? You just said it yourself, he's "allowed" to be funny.

Yeah, fair enough.

He has just posted to his Facebook more or less saying he has taken on board the advice of another person with a similar page to his (aspergers awareness) and is going to tone down the sexual stuff.

He said he has lost himself a bit and gets carried away sometimes.

Its great that he's able to take the advice on board and see where people are coming from.

Well he's back advertising the only fans, also posting things like this.

Racial slurs and pictures of himself with a knife to his arm all in the name of humour.

He knows exactly who his target demographic is, young people with autism and their loved ones.

An aside; why did you use "myself" in that sentence. If you were saying "I use this page myself" then fine but you're not. The word is 'I'. Just I.
Its only on mumsnet, and its every few posts, that people write lists with myself instead of I. Please stop it.

How about no? Sorry know.