One thing I worry about in society is how autistic people seem to be more at risk for getting in trouble for things they didn’t even do all because of not understanding the situation in the first place
For example: I remember one time I was shopping at a supermarket, and after paying, a staff member walked up to me, and without explaining why, asked me if they could look inside my bag. I was only aware they suspected me of shoplifting (which I hadn’t) because of a previous post I’d read about another autistic in a similar situation. Imagine if an autistic person, unaware of the hidden context, declined to let them look inside the bag. They’d already be deemed as suspicious when in reality, they just didn’t want someone to look inside
Another time I was about to go to a university party organised by the university itself. I was carrying an empty Coca-Cola bottle ONLY because I was drinking one beforehand, and couldn’t find a bin. Without warning, a staff member grabbed my empty bottle and took it away. At first I thought they were just being helpful until I saw the stern look on their face, and then I was confused (only later did I realise they might have thought I would refill it with alcohol later on or something). When I was unable to get in due to not having enough money, I had a shutdown due to the noise and confusion, and was then screamed at to get out despite the fact I did nothing wrong
This is the kind of thing autistic people have to deal with. Society has to learn to understand that just because a person isn’t reacting the way you expect, and seems “suspicious”, doesn’t mean they are. There’s a high chance they’re an autistic person who may not be fully understanding of the situation at hand, especially when the other person isn’t explicit about what’s going on
as a black autistic person this type of shit is so fucking dangerous and common for me
im already “suspicious” for being black and my autism makes other ppl see me as a direct threat
ive had white and non black allistic people threaten to call the cops on me for stimming inside stores, push me out of places bc “looking like i was casing the place” (no i just wear sunglasses constantly bc light is too much), ive been in situations where i had to pinch myself n make my inner palm bleed to make sure i wasnt being nonverbal to a cop that could just kill me for not responding 110% calm and nice or stimming bc “sudden movement” is dangerous coming from a black body, ive had other white autistics call me weird and suspicious for doing the same things they do bc they inherently see my blackness as something to watch out for
a lot of what “suspicious” is about is based on racist and ableist and as someone whos always gonna be getting the brunt of suspicion in society bc my blackness affects every aspect of how im treated, i think its important to bring up that white autistics are often going to be given the benifit of the doubt, offered empathy and shown more respect when dealing with the situation of doing something “wrong” in the eyes of allistic people
for a white autistic, not understanding/processing a situation makes you suspicious
but for black autistic people were always assumed a threat to the safety of others so things escalate pass suspicion very quickly
a cop may see a white or lightskinned autistic person having a meltdown in public and see the autism and still might harass u about it (bc acab) but they will bring more empathy to you durring that time
a cop might see me a black person having a meltdown in public and try to arrest me,might shoot at me bc they feel “threatened” might use excessive force bc i look “aggressive” or they have no patience for being nonverbal, might harass me bc i “look out of place”
this isnt just cops tho, its the whole damn world, ableism and antiblackness together is so terrifying and it kills
