This post continues a critical analysis of a list of memes titled What Not to Say to an Autistic Person . The first “not to” – “You don’t look autistic”  – was examined in the previous post . Here, we turn to two further entries on that list: “ We’re all on the spectrum ”  and “ Everyone is a bit autisti c .” Both statements are routinely dismissed as ignorant and/or offensive. Yet their persistence suggests that something more than simple misunderstanding is at work. These p

How Research on “Frank” Autism Undermines a Persistent and Harmful Meme With a few friends, I have started working on a project that may be seen as controversial but feels deeply important to those of us who live with the consequences of how autism is constantly redefined, reframed, and repackaged online[ 1 ]. We decided to start small—by analysing the memes that circulate endlessly across social media—and then follow the discussion wherever it leads us. When I looked at a li