Stigmatizing description for Autism tag

[packbat]

I was looking around the site for stories that caught my interest, noticed the "Autism" tag on one, and decided to check it out - I'm autistic myself and I have seen a number of stories on this site portray neurodivergent characters (people whose minds work differently than our society expects them to) in sophisticated and nuanced ways.

Unfortunately, the tag description currently on the Autism tag page is anything but sophisticated and nuanced:

Tag should only be used if characters suffering from Autism are an important part of the story. Autism is a mental condition characterized by great difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts.

As an autistic user, I think it would be better if something more neutral were used here. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network has a page describing autism in much less stereotypical and negative terms; riffing off of that, I might suggest something like:

This tag should only be used if one or more characters being autistic is an important part of the story. Autism is a developmental disability that shows up in a wide variety of ways, such as unusual depth of interest in specific subjects, sensitivity to stimuli like bright lights and loud noises, and differences in communication (e.g. literal-mindedness, selective mutism) and modes of socializing (e.g. avoiding eye contact).

 

[LilRora]

I just learned tags have descriptions, and I've been on Scribble for over two years.

Side note, this should probably go into the Suggestions category.

 

[packbat]

I just learned tags have descriptions, and I've been on Scribble for over two years.

It's definitely not advertised, I think - found out about it when trying to figure out what the "Psychological" genre meant.

Side note, this should probably go into the Suggestions category.

I figured it was here or Suggestions, yeah - hopefully it can be moved if it's in the wrong place?