I'm autistic, people troll me. I wanna practice clapping back.
I wanna develop skill to say mean things and killer clap backs.
**People only getting meaner when i do nothing.**
The Giant Book of Insults might do the trick. Also google Shakespeare insult chart because it’s just a good use of language (imo).
SOEBS_Creative_Works on
Clapping back is good, but I’d avoid engaging with trolls anf other bad faith interlocutors. I tend to only bother when there’s a real teaching opportunity and it’s not going to just drain or trigger me (a lot of autistic people do have CPTSD from our upbringing so that’s a real concern).
If I do engage with people who are genuinely unaware I budget strictly on the energy I’m prepared to invest, to prevent myself getting overwhelmed and to preserve my mental health, and tap out early – it’s a necessary boundary. These types of conversation tend to be the ones where I hope to actually provide some educational opportunity, but I leave even earlier than my energy limitations require if I realise the person is just engaging in bad faith or is unlikely to critically evaluate their biases.
If you’re purpose in finding comebacks is to shut down a conversation rather than start one: are you in any autistic communities? From my experience, a great way to come up with good retorts specifically to the kind of people who throw out the same bigoted remarks is to hear what other people with similar experience have to say.
Trial and error is also something you can utilise constructively. I am LGBTQIA+ and autistic myself and have said before that encountering the same unoriginal questions and ignorance on repeat is like practising a comedy routine with a fresh audience every time who have never seen your previous shows – you get to practice variations on the same lines with better wording and delivery.
I tend to not find myself drawn into long back-and-forths because finding the right response (one which exposes their bigotry and ignorance on making such statements) is far more effective and satisfying at shutting down the responses than finding a million variations of insults.
And if I find myself engaged in back and forth at that point it’s likely the person is engaged in bad faith – literally trolling, and a long, draining interaction is going to feel like defending my existence and get depressing for me.
So it’s worthwhile considering your particular goal in interacting with people and whether the particular people you’re wanting to insult are worth the interaction or might be counterproductive to what you’re intending, or may need a different approach. Hope this is helpful.
choccy_biscuit on
The Ultimate Book of Insults is a good one but the references are a bit dated and I don’t think you need it.
As an autistic person myself when people insult me it comes down to them assuming I’m an easy target, they’re banking on an emotional reaction so they can reaffirm how they feel about themselves (I.e: they’re better than me because of x,y,z). Once I started recognising a pattern to their insults, like where the stereotypes come from or what logical fallacy they’re using, it was so much easier to deal with because I have proof that they’re not being logical (or very creative).
I usually just take it and deal with it but online I like to take the comment and go through exactly what they did and critique them like an English teacher, I share that critique online so hopefully others will come across it an be better prepared if/when it happens to them.
3 Comments
The Giant Book of Insults might do the trick. Also google Shakespeare insult chart because it’s just a good use of language (imo).
Clapping back is good, but I’d avoid engaging with trolls anf other bad faith interlocutors. I tend to only bother when there’s a real teaching opportunity and it’s not going to just drain or trigger me (a lot of autistic people do have CPTSD from our upbringing so that’s a real concern).
If I do engage with people who are genuinely unaware I budget strictly on the energy I’m prepared to invest, to prevent myself getting overwhelmed and to preserve my mental health, and tap out early – it’s a necessary boundary. These types of conversation tend to be the ones where I hope to actually provide some educational opportunity, but I leave even earlier than my energy limitations require if I realise the person is just engaging in bad faith or is unlikely to critically evaluate their biases.
If you’re purpose in finding comebacks is to shut down a conversation rather than start one: are you in any autistic communities? From my experience, a great way to come up with good retorts specifically to the kind of people who throw out the same bigoted remarks is to hear what other people with similar experience have to say.
Trial and error is also something you can utilise constructively. I am LGBTQIA+ and autistic myself and have said before that encountering the same unoriginal questions and ignorance on repeat is like practising a comedy routine with a fresh audience every time who have never seen your previous shows – you get to practice variations on the same lines with better wording and delivery.
I tend to not find myself drawn into long back-and-forths because finding the right response (one which exposes their bigotry and ignorance on making such statements) is far more effective and satisfying at shutting down the responses than finding a million variations of insults.
And if I find myself engaged in back and forth at that point it’s likely the person is engaged in bad faith – literally trolling, and a long, draining interaction is going to feel like defending my existence and get depressing for me.
So it’s worthwhile considering your particular goal in interacting with people and whether the particular people you’re wanting to insult are worth the interaction or might be counterproductive to what you’re intending, or may need a different approach. Hope this is helpful.
The Ultimate Book of Insults is a good one but the references are a bit dated and I don’t think you need it.
As an autistic person myself when people insult me it comes down to them assuming I’m an easy target, they’re banking on an emotional reaction so they can reaffirm how they feel about themselves (I.e: they’re better than me because of x,y,z). Once I started recognising a pattern to their insults, like where the stereotypes come from or what logical fallacy they’re using, it was so much easier to deal with because I have proof that they’re not being logical (or very creative).
I usually just take it and deal with it but online I like to take the comment and go through exactly what they did and critique them like an English teacher, I share that critique online so hopefully others will come across it an be better prepared if/when it happens to them.