I have heard the phrase “but you don’t look Autistic” so many times. What does autism look like? I didn’t know we had any specific look. If you have met one autistic person… you have met one autistic person. We are all different in appearance (unless you know Autistic twins). Autism is how our brains are wired – it does not affect appearance. You might know an Autistic person with a co-morbid condition that does affect their appearance. That is a situation unique to that person. Every Autistic person is different.
This is a very small sample of what Autism looks like:
Robyn – aka Autistic Faerie
This really is what autism looks like. It also looks like the autistic kids I work with, and my autistic adult friends… There is no limit. Autism is articulate, intelligent, creative, empathetic, engaged, and compassionate. The hard stuff is there, too, but the most important part is the human part.
My name is Jeannette, my nickname is Boe. I love reading, animals, and music and learning! I’m going to restart training as a veterinary nurse (my first attempt was hindered by illnesses).
I’m Sophie, I’m nonbinary (they/them pronouns) and my special interests are podcasts, space and engineering!
Brannen is a 27-year-old autistic, asexual, gender neutral, non-binary identical twin.
Nathaniel
I’m Ash. I’m a 27 year old film student focusing on post-production and sound design. My dog Kameron is my life. I also enjoy dressing my plastic skeleton, Bonejangles, up for every holiday. I am what an Autistic person looks like.
Star, she/her
I’m Lin and I’m Autistic. I love writing letters, thinking and talking about stimming, doing actually anything related to Bob Dylan, my special interest, or making literally anything related to him at some point, music in general, analyzing, painting, and maths (it’s maybe one of these few things that sound stereotypically autistic about me).
Thank you to everyone who submitted photos!