Why I admit to being autistic on the internet - 100 follower special

First of all - I'd like to thank you all for 100 followers! It has been an honor, and I've made many new friends through it.

With that, as you probably clicked that follow button - you're probably wondering why I use 'autism' as part of my username... what's the deal? Isn't that going to irk a few people?

Well... there is a reason why I openly admit to being autistic on the internet. As a disclaimer: I, in no way, shape or form, mean to come across as insensitive when I explain this.

Maybe to make things a little more clear, i'd like to tell people a bit about myself. My real name is Joshua Alexander Fleming - I turned 17 just last month, and (as you can tell by my bio'), I am a Smash 4 Shulk main and aspiring to be a top-level player.

This leads me smoothly onto the reason for me putting my condition at the front line of my persona. This is the fact that I have come to terms with the condition throughout my life. In other words... I don't fear it, and no one should. Again - I don't mean to come across as some sort of jerk, and it's not like I don't understand WHY some people might poke an eyebrow at the prospect - but I digress. Essentially, I use my condition as a form of perspective for some of the things that I may say or do. It's a factor, not an excuse - and this is something that was made very clear to me early in my life.

In Sm4sh - I'd like to believe that my most recently established playstyle as Shulk reflects this. Fairly aggressive at the start of a match as I find a way in, but I start to cool off and realize a more passive outlook when I want to build on, for example, a stock lead or advantage state. Sound like a weird analogy? Let me explain...

At the start of my life, I found the world a confusing place (I mean... who didn't?), and it almost felt like I had little to no control over myself. I don't really remember the absolute earliest days of my childhood that well, but from what I do remember (especially early primary education): I now realize I had little to no ability to carve my own niche in life. I was quite spoiled; rather entitled, and all in all I was just fidgety and all over the place... however, through all of it, I had a lot of energy - and I think this is what best parallels my offensive neutral at the start of a game. Over the past few years however, I've really had to take things in more filterable chunks, and actually think about what the hell i'm doing. Life get's harder as one progresses, after all - and more detail will become more apparent as we mature.

Now that I think about it, it's taken me the best part of the last year and a bit to properly craft a mental image of myself. What that actually looks like is better to show you then to explain, to be honest.

Alongside the above - I also have an eidetic memory (that I admittedly haven't really been exercising that much) to go along with my autism. As well as this, I have a knack for debating things such as the presidential election; the attitude of mainstream society... things like that.

And that's the main reason I admit to being autistic on the internet. It's been a staple of my life, and is something I've found helpful in coming to terms with who I am. I'm going to confess, while I'm not afraid of admitting to my condition - I am definitely... cautious about it. I've made mistakes (I'm sure we all have), and to be fair (not to sound like a grumpy edgelord or anything), I kinda cringe at the person I was a few years ago (think 10-12 year old me, there or there about). I also use it as a way of indicating how I care about those with more severe or lower functioning conditions, as they're far more vulnerable and struggle to be independent. in my opinion, those who cannot be independent lack the ability to carve their own persona as they're forced to rely on others. I leave on this note - if one is unable to see reality through their own view, then without sufficient reasoning... are we not essentially teaching the children of future generations that transparency is somehow a sin? We know this isn't true...

For those who do not know what autism is - I've found a video on the matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4G0HTIUBlI

With that, I thank you all!

Josh.

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