Autistic online forums & social media

Online forums and social media spaces for autistic people

For now, this page contains listings of:

Message board forums created by and for autistic people
Autistic Twitter
Autistic Reddit forums (subreddits)
Autistic Discord servers
Miscellaneous

Later I'll add links to some relevant resources within other social media platforms.

Listings on this page will be limited to online forums and social media that allow pseudonyms and do not require photos. Autistic in NYC will NOT list Facebook groups or pages, due to Facebook's policy of requiring legal names, a policy that I, the owner of this site, regard as a violation of the privacy of marginalized people of all kinds, including autistic people, especially autistic womenr. (For some of the reasons why this is an important issue, please see Warnings about online harassment. While lots of people do use pseudonyms on Facebook despite Facebook's official policy, Facebook does occasionally -- and unpredictably -- crack down, requiring some users to prove their identities or else lose their accounts.) Autistic in NYC also will not list any other forums or social media that require legal names and/or photos.

Message board forums created by and for autistic people

Here are some of the more popular message boards for English-writing autistic people all over the world, listed in order from oldest to newest:

Wrong Planet. (Before you post, see rules and terms of use, plus additional rules for some specific sub-forums, in "sticky" threads near the tops of some sub-forums. See also Wrong Planet's policies on PMs (private messages).)
AutismForums: Asperger & Autism Community. (Before you post, see rules and terms, plus additional rules for some specific sub-forums in "sticky" threads near the tops of some sub-forums.)
Neurovoice. (Before you post, see Terms of Use, and see also Forum Rules and Core Values, plus the thread Some guidance for the membership levels.)

These message boards are moderated by small teams of volunteers (who are, themselves, people on the autism spectrum).

Many autistic people will probably find the above message boards to be more helpful than social media. Discussions on message boards tend to be friendlier, more informative, and more in-depth, with less pressure toward ideological conformity. Controversial topics, such as politics, are confined to particular sub-forums, so that members can easily avoid them if they wish.

Besides the above-listed message boards that are specific to the autistic community, there's also:

Autism and Mental Health section of Mental Health Forum, which also has sub-forums on many mental health conditions. (Before you post, see rules and guide to using the forum.)
Autistic adults section of The autism community, a forum of the U.K.-based National Autistic Society, which is primarily an organization for parents of autistic children. (Before you post, see Community Rules and Community FAQs.)

Hopefully there will eventually be some online forums specific to the NYC area, for members of local groups, and hopefully there will eventually be some online forums for autistic workers in specific categories of careers / occupations / jobs.

Autistic Twitter

Below are lists of Twitter hashtags frequently used by autistic people.

But first, a general note about Twitter: Unless you already have lots and lots of followers, including lots of followers within Twitter's autistic community, original tweets by you with these hashtags are likely to disappear soon and be ignored. So, to interact with others, it is usually best to write replies to other people's tweets rather than write your own original tweets.

NOTE: When you click on the Twitter hashtag links below, only the most popular/recent tweets will show on the page, and in some cases no tweets at all. To see more tweets, click the search bar at the top of Twitter's page for a given hashtag. Also, you can help revive a seemingly dead hashtag by using it yourself.

First, here are some of the most popular Twitter hashtags commonly used by English-writing autistic people all over the world:

#autistic
#ActuallyAutistic (Please use this hashtag ONLY if you are autistic. Well-informed self-dx OK.)
#AskingAutistics (see also @AskingAutistics)
#AskAutistics

And here is an organized weekly Twitter chat:

#AutChat (see AutChat website for info on how to particpate, and see also the @autchatmod Twitter account)

Other hashtags for adults on the autism spectrum include:

For older and/or late-diagnosed autistic adults:

#LateDiagnosis and #LateDiagnosedAutistic
#AutisticElders and #AncientAutistic

For autistic people with various co-occurring conditions:

#ADHDAutism and #AutismADHD
Hashtags for other co-occurring conditions to be listed here later, as I find them.

For parents and families:

#autism and #ASD (for everyone, but used mostly by parents of autistic kids)
#AutisticParents and #AutisticParent (for autistic people who are parents themelves)

For women:

#AutisticWomen

For people of color and ethnic minorities:

#BlackAutistics (see also @BlackAutistics)
#AutisticWhileBlack and #BlackAndAutistic
#AutisticNative and #IndigenousAutistic
#AutisticBIPoC
#AutisticPoC
#AllAutistics (created by @AllAutistics)

Autism in relation to society as a whole:

#AutismAcceptance
#AutismAcceptanceMonth (April) and #AACAwarenessMonth (October)
#AutisticIdentity and #AutisticBelonging
#AutisticCulture and #AutisticCultureShift
#AutisticResearchShift
#AutisticJoys (see akso this thread begun by Sarah Boon).
#Neurodiversity and #Neurodivergence and #NeuroKin
#AutisticActivist
#AutisticRights and #AutisticEmancipation
#BlackAutisticLivesMatter (see also @BeingKaylaSmith and Kayla Smith's YouTube channel) and #AutisticBlackLivesMatter
#AutisticLivesMatter (all races)

Regarding employment and various professions / occupations / jobs: See separate listing of Twitter hashtags here.

For those of us in the NYC metro area: #AutisticNYC and #AutisticInNYC.

Autistic Reddit forums (subreddits)

Note that each Reddit community is run by a different set of moderators. Different communities may vary in how friendly, supportive, and useful they are.

r/adultautism - Adults with Autism
r/AutisticAdults - Adults on the Autistic Spectrum
r/AskAutism - Ask Autistics
r/HNAA - High Needs Autistic Advocates
r/SpicyAutism - SpicyAutism -- for level 2,3, or otherwise higher support needs autists
r/AutismInWomen - AutismInWomen
r/AutisticPOC - AutisticPOC: autist community for minorities
r/asperger - Asperger Subreddit
r/aspergers - Aspergers
r/aspergirls - Life skills and healthy coping mechanisms for the ASD community
r/Aspie - Aspergers syndrome / Aspie \ Aspies
r/aspiememes - aspie memes
r/autism - Autism
r/AutismTranslated - AutismTranslated
r/AutisticPride - AutisticPride
r/LGBTaspies - LGBT Aspies
r/neurodiversity - r/neurodiversity

Personally I think it's much easier to have sustained discussion in old-style message board forums than on any social media platform including Reddit, but YMMV.

Autistic Discord servers

High Needs Autistic Advocates. A network dedicated to advocating and giving a voice to higher support needs (Levels 2 and 3) autistic people. (See What we are about on Reddit. See also the Wrong Planet thread High Needs Autistic Advocates for more information.)
Neuro Cafe. "This server is dedicated to individuals who are underdiagnosed and under-represented in the autistic community. We are diverse in our experiences and identities, but are together to form a community where we can all be comfortable as our authentic selves." After entering the server, click community guidelines to read the rules. Then, to be allowed to post, go to role-request and click items appropriate to you, to enable access to relevant channels.
A Spectrum United - see rules here. After joining, post in general too and introductions, and get roles here.
Autistic Women. After entering the server, read the rules here and then post an introduction in introductions.
Wrong Planet Exiles, for Wrong Planet users. See announcement on Wrong Planet here. To get an up-to-date invite, send a PM (private message) to funeralxempire on Wrong Planet

Miscellaneous

Narratives of Neurodiversity Network - has a Discord channel. Its Twitter account profile says, "The NNN is a group of academics, creatives, & others who enjoy exploring the cultures of neurodiversity." A pinned tweet says, "We like to talk about #neurodiversity in art, culture, poetry and all forms of creative expression."