• berber@feddit.org
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    2 days ago

    i like the sentiment, but i hate the imagery.

    a dad wanting to have his alone time with his hobby that is miniature trains is the thing that is supposed to indicate autism?

    i don’t like this because it stregthens ideas about which hobbies are “normal” and which hobbies are “weird” and only bearable for autistic people (i am exaggerating, of course).

    wanting to have alone time is a completely normal thing for neurotypical people, and the dad even expresses it verbally, explicitly.

    • PieMePlenty@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Its just the stereotypical trains = autism trope. As our understanding of autism is expanded, the joke stars feeling dated.

      • charokol@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        People, like whoever drew this comic, are starting to evoke the trope without any nuance or understanding. Like you said, it’s just trains = autism. It’s getting annoying.

    • blockheadjt@sh.itjust.works
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      20 hours ago

      It becomes bearable when you realize everyone trying to define autism is just fumbling around. Autism is a human construct. It doesn’t reflect reality, just ideas neurotypical people have.