[TRANSCRIPT:
Paige: Hi, I’m Paige and I’m Autistic
Person 2: You are not autistic
Paige: Well, you don’t know who I am at all, so how can you even make that judgement?
Person 2: You’re nothing like my son, who’s 5 years old and a boy and autistic.
Paige: That’s funny because I’m actually a 20 year old woman, so of course I’m nothing like your 5 year old son.
Person 2: You don’t look autistic.
Paige: What does autism look like?
Person 2: uh it looks like my 5 year old autistic son.
Paige: Did you know every person who’s autistic is different, like any other human? And that I’m especially going to be different from a 5 year old boy?
Person 2: Yes but there are some things that are the same.
Paige: This is true, and this is why I’m diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Person 2: But you don’t show it well.
Paige: That’s because this is a 60 second TikTok.... That is scripted. And I am a 20 year old woman, I’m not having a meltdown 24/7.
Paige: I’m not showing you what I’m like at my lowest because I have clients and I don’t know you nor do I trust you and if I don’t fit what you think autism is, that’s not my fault nor my problem nor do I need to change to fit them. You need to change what you think autism looks like.
/END TRANSCRIPT]