#
💡 This has happened to me as well. I know I've tried to mirror the behaviors of neurotypical people and it backfires OFTEN! Not all the time, but definitely often enough where I need (mental health/spiritual) recovery time. I just heard Dory's voice... "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." But it is sad that neurotypical people don't always catch what's going on in the neurodivergent brain and see our reactions as inappropriate when we're trying to do what we thought is required to meet societal expectations.
An autistic person says that something bothers them.
A neurotypical person does it just to make fun of the autistic person's reaction.
The autistic person gets angry.
The neurotypical person insists that they were "kidding" and "didn't mean anything bad by it" therefore the autistic person is "too sensitive".
The autistic person then learns to accept that this is just how people act.
The autistic person begins treating people the same way.
Neurotypical people then use this as evidence that autistic people lack empathy and don't respect boundaries. The fact that the autistic person was "kidding" or "didn't mean anything bad by it" means nothing.
The golden rule, which is to treat others how you want to be treated, applies to neurodivergent people also. Neurotypical people don't seem to understand that. But neurodivergent people are the ones labeled as defective.
Just sayin'!