Okay, there is a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to autistic people. The REAL reason why they are so misunderstood is because people are not listening to the actual autistic people themselves when they hear about autism. Autism is typically said with a negative connotation. For this reason, people like to use autism as an insult, which would make sense if autism was actually bad. Additionally, autistic people often face some form of stigma such as ableism, or discrimination against disabled people. Think of autistic people as square pegs trying to fit into round holes. Instead of trying to change the autistic people into round pegs, try changing the holes into square holes. There is a reason why autistic people can be seen as reclusive or antisocial at times. It is because they know about the bad things people do to each other.

Embrace autistic people whenever you can, and they will take you to places you’ve never been to before.

The type of people who've been responsible for many of society's greatest inventions, but are still not widely appreciated by the majority of people.

Descriptive noun form of autism/ASD, a neurodevelopomental disorder that can feature differences in how someone navigates social interactions, and differences on how we experience physical stimuli (also known as Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD).

Autism isn’t necessarily *characterised* by sensory-regulating behaviours (also called stims), and while body-stims like rocking and flapping are fairly common, they aren’t defining characteristics nor is stimming harmful in any capacity (with minor exceptions). We’re also fairly highly represented among BFRB populations,

We don’t all approach social situations the same way either. some of us are nonverbal, others hyper-verbal; one autistic might seek physical contact while another might be repulsed by it. What we’re okay with can also vary depending on the situation or how we feel, we’re people.
We aren’t any more monolithic than allistic folks; if you want to know if we’re comfortable with something, ask us.

If you ever dare use it as an insult, I will find you, kill you and feed your organs to furious wolves.

A misunderstood developmental disability that interferes with a person's ability to properly and/or appropriately communicate with others. Of course, uneducated assholes on the Internet believe it to be "fancy words" for the slur retarded.

A word used by arrogant and ignorant dumbfucks to call people stupid. This term is extremely ironic, because most of the geniuses of the past, including Einstein, Newton, and Bill Gates. Whoever uses this term derogatorily should be publicly beaten.

A way of being for a person with autism. Autism is not a disease. A lot of people feel desperately sorry for autistic people, and look for a cure, because autistics find empathising/conversing difficult. Many autistics are good at other things such as maths/physics, and rembering lots of information. Around 1 in 10 autistics show savant abilities, which may mean they can do VERY fast maths, or play a song they've heard once on a musical instrument without tution, and a variety of others.

A lot of people are oblivious to the concept of autistic adults, only thinking of autism being about children. This is not the case and many autistic adults (such as myself) have jobs and contribute to society like everyone else, and they are not always "high functioning".

Some Autistic people want to be cured, and that's fine if it's what they really want.
However, there are plenty of autistic people who would rather not edit themselves to conform to society's narrow defintion of "normal", of which I am one. The vast majority of people know nothing about autistic people who are HAPPY the way they are, which is a shame.

Of a person (or animal) who's neurodiverse or has autism, possibly caused by a mutation on chromosome 15 before development and birth. These people are normal but may have sensory, behavioral, and social differences. Otherwise, autistic individuals are either smart or intellectually impaired, sensory oversensitive or sensory undersensitive, unique, and creative. Neurodiversity is not retardation or taboo but a blessing and a personality trait.

Has contemporary usage as a self-identifier and a term of endearment used online by individuals who self-identify as non-neurotypical. Although often used light-heartedly, and seemingly in jest, it reflects underlying non-typical struggles can manifest as the tendency towards introversion, social isolation, obsessive thinking, anxiety, difficulty maintaining eye contact, social awkwardness and missing common social queues, and a feeling that they do not fit it to normal society. The colloquial usage reflects a recognise of common struggles, shared ability and a steadfast refusal for it to be defined as a disorder in any form. It is not a problem to be fixed, but different way of being, and possibly an adaptation to growing up and socialising online.

Although not clinically-diagnosed as autistic, self-identified austists recognise traits that place them somewhere on the spectrum, are often very high-functioning and analytic, and whilst still feel very deeply, are often lower in emotional intelligence and emotional control, and tend to be obsessive in their pursuit and immersion in their interests.