The #ActuallyAutistic hashtag was created as an alternative to the #autism hashtag to be for blogs or blog posts created by autistic people.
How the ActuallyAutistic hashtag is used on the Art of Autism | The Art of Autism
A common question from those new to the ActuallyAutistic hashtag is: “is it inclusive of self-diagnosis?”
I was surprised that a few people had mentioned they disliked hearing or reading the community phrase ‘ActuallyAutistic.’ These individuals felt as if the phrase ‘ActuallyAutistic’ was one of exclusion (instead of inclusion) because (in their opinion) the phrase ‘ActuallyAutistic’ excludes some of our community members (those who are not medically diagnosed) and that people who use it were trying to ‘separate themselves’ from non-medicalized Autistic People.
The #ActuallyAutistic community that I know is diverse, and many within the community proudly identify as ‘ActuallyAutistic’ to connect with others who share similar experiences (whether they are medically diagnosed or self-identified). In my experience, this is the most common usage of the term – to indicate the writer of the post is an Autistic Person (regardless of diagnostic status).
What is #ActuallyAutistic (to me, a late identified Autistic Adult) – Finding Community in a Sea of Stigma
Yes, ActuallyAutistic has been inclusive of self-diagnosis and self-identification since its inception.
If you are an Autistic person and you’ve been excluded by someone using the term ‘ActuallyAutistic, ‘please know that whoever used the label ActuallyAutistic to exclude you was misusing and appropriating a tag that was invented to include Autistic People not exclude them.
I’ve been in this community long enough (almost eight years) that I remember what this tag (#ActuallyAutistic) means, what its intended use was (and still is), and that self-identified Autistic People have ALWAYS been included in the #ActuallyAutistic community.
What is #ActuallyAutistic (to me, a late identified Autistic Adult) – Finding Community in a Sea of Stigma
Here’s some history on how ActuallyAutistic came to be and what it means.
#ActuallyAutistic is a hashtag used by the autistic community.
The #autism hashtag lost support amongst autistic people since it was dominated by friends or family of autistic people to the exclusion of autistic people themselves, and often featured hateful remarks about autism, pictures of autistic people posted without their permission, or posts from Autism Speaks (commonly seen as an enemy among autistic people).
The autistic community on Tumblr created the hashtag as a safe space for discussion. The tag has spread to other online platforms such as Twitter, DeviantArt and more recently TikTok. Members of the autistic community commonly see its use by non-autistic (neurotypical) people as bad ethics though they are still able to read discussions that were posted with the tag and support them as allies.
ActuallyAutistic | Autism Wiki | Fandom
The Actuallyautistic Tag: Since there seems to be some confusion – The Lame Dame
- Here on Tumblr, we have the tag “actuallyautistic”
- This tag, as its name suggests, are for people whom are actually autistic.
- This includes all people whom are on the Spectrum…
- Its purpose is simple: it’s a tag so that people can easily find what people on the Spectrum think about various issues relating to them.
- Posting using the tag “actuallyautistic” if you are not actually autistic is inappropriate, and frankly, a lie. You are not actually autistic. Feel free to use other tags, such as “autism”, “autism speaks”, “asphergers”, etc.
- You do not get an exception if you are the allistic/neurotypical family member or friend of someone on the spectrum, as this does not make you actually autistic. I’m related to men, that does not make me a man or give me the right to go around saying “My dad, one of my closest family members, is a man, so I am qualified to speak about issues facing men!”
- If parents are looking under “actuallyautistic” it’s because they want to hear the testimonies of people whom are actually autistic. If they are smart enough to turn on the computer, they are smart enough to realize that this is the opinion of autistics only. You do not have the duty or the right to invade this tag to try and reach those parents.
- Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Once upon a time, stuff about autism was generally in the “autism” tag. It didn’t work very well, because much as the autism tag is currently filled with people posting pictures of their siblings and children (often without mentioning that the person is OK with this, which is a problem for a lot of reasons) tagged with autism for no apparent reason, people using an autism tag as an insult for people they don’t like, advertisements for Autism Speaks walks, and people talking about their autistic children and siblings as mysterious. All this is generally very tiresome for autistic people to read and dig through just to find a couple posts by actual autistic people about their own lives. Additionally, when we said things about how the assumption of “mysteriousness” or such othering descriptions were really not cool, if it was tagged “autism,” there would be a pile of angry parents and siblings.
Basically, the “autism” tag was really unwelcoming for actual autistic people! It was all other people talking about their autistic relatives, generally in ways that squick autistic people. This is similar to the problems when autistic people tried to organize at conferences about autism run by non-autistic people. They really didn’t like it when autistic people started talking to disagree with them.
So another tag started: “actually autistic” or “actuallyautistic.” Both versions of the tag get used, a lot of people use them pretty much interchangeably, a lot of people use one or the other, a lot of people use both on any given relevant post. I don’t know of any pattern relating to who uses which ones, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. That tag is meant as “the person posting this is themself autistic.” Not everything on that tag is immediately and obviously autism related, but it’s usually something that the poster thinks is related to their own autism. Sometimes it might be something that an autistic poster wants other autistic people to see, which is a pretty reasonable use of tags.
Yes, That Too: Why actually autistic tag
Anyways: The short version is that the autism tag was and is an unsafe place for many autistic people because folks didn’t get that autistic people were following and reading and might be capable of having opinions on what we were reading, the actuallyautistic/ actually autistic tags are safer for some autistic people, and thus they exist.
Yes, That Too: Why actually autistic tag
“Actuallyautistic” is a tag for people who are themselves autistic to post in and draw support from.
The tumblr autistic community developed this tag because the autism and autistic tags were full of parents and siblings, many of whom expressed opinions that made people feel unsafe and in some cases could make people actively unsafe. In order to build community together, there was some conversation on tumblr that resulted in the actually autistic tags being developed.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network – What is with the tags “actuallyautistic” (which…
