Ever since I was a kid, especially after my autism diagnosis, I've always been treated like an absolute airhead. It's because I'm usually a very reserved and quiet person for the most part, and for most of my life I was never confrontational or comfortable with asking for help. The fact that I get treated like an airhead only worsens this because it makes me even more afraid to speak my mind.

I've been described as 'oblivious' and as 'having no personality' or just being the quiet weird kid. But it's so fucking frustrating when I actually do speak up, have an opinion, or need help with something, and people immediately start assuming I didn't do things right or that it's not important. I've had problems being written off as just "you're too sensitive" or "well are you sure you did it right" instead of literally just getting an answer or opinion. It's like I need to prove myself first before anyone can take me seriously.

Or people believe that because I'm so oblivious I don't notice their backhanded compliments, or that I don't notice things going on. They talk to me about things like I'm just a little baby when in reality I've been paying attention the whole time but genuinely don't care enough to say something.

I feel like I'm definitely not alone in the way that I feel, and hopefully, many of you can resonate. I really wish I could be treated like an adult and included in things like one, and that people didn't feel the need to explain things to me like I'm a kindergartener.

Autistic people are not stupid, and I think a lot of stereotypes around autism as well as how acceptable it is to make fun of it just make everything worse. I wish neurotypical people knew that autistic people are just as capable and intelligent as they are, and have interests and feelings just like them, but might just have a different way of communicating or doing things. Like at the end of the day, I'm not SO "oblivious" that I don't feel hurt after feeling like nobody will ever listen to me or that I'll just get lectured on the same things I already fully understand. Like we can tell when people are insulting us, or putting us down, we are not that stupid, and the fact that we feel we need to 'prove ourselves' just to be taken seriously is so fucking tiring. I'm so tired of this.