“Calm Down!” Why is this the WORST Advice You Can Give an Autistic Person?”

Ever been told to ‘calm down’? How’d it feel? Well, this autistic feels like exploding…

“Calm Down,” digital tableau by Johnny Profane Âû. Digital tools used include AI.

🚨Content note: profanity, opinionated, disturbing images, therapist bashing…

🚨Podcast audio here.

“Calm down.”

G-d damn, I hate those words. Always have.

“Therapist Sez, Calm Down” Original digital illustration by the author.

“Therapist Sez, Calm Down,” digital illustration by the author. Digital tools include AI.

And I’ve heard them pretty much every day of my LONG life.

Delivered in soothing tones… Helpful tones… Authoritative… Anxious, Angry, Sometimes accompanied by a slap.

“Prompt Engineer,” digital illustration by author.

“Calm down!”

A canned phrase, tossed out wholesale… By parents. Teachers. Priests. Playmates. Lovers. Doctors. Therapists… Pretty much all commanding one thing of me.