this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2026
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Why not? Sports are full of systems, patterns, routines, statistics, and explicit rules, and can be used to mask socially.
I'm just confused about the "losing them" part. As if they're some sort of rare mineral. Also it's autistic, not autist, it's not a profession. Also also, surely they can decide what they want to do themselves?
Also also also, can you give an example of an autistic person playing in the NBA or soccer or something?
What I mean is that a portion of obsessive brainpower that traditionally would have gone towards furthering science or solving humanity's various issues is absorbed by sports statistics and science, not that lots of players are secretly autistic. Maybe 'losing them' is a bit dramatic, but I do think that because certain hobbies and interests are a lot more publicly seen as 'autistic interests' that autistic folk that are into sports tend to not get diagnosed and never even know they're autistic despite it being clearly obvious to anyone who knows what to look for. And on that note, I see you also enjoy rigid structures and rules, my fellow autist! Wouldn't it have been weird if I had called you an autistic just then? It's a fun term with plenty of functionality and I don't see anything wrong with it.
But how many of these would have the right kind of minds to be put to use elsewhere? Surely some will but you can't just force somebody to use that superfocus to catalogue some discoveries all day long for years, it could be psychological torture for some individuals even if they're capable of it.
I don't think anyone is talking about forcing anyone to do anything, here. Just that those interests poach minds who would otherwise be interested and capable.
My man, look, autistic people are great and all, just like we all are, but... I think you're overstating their importance. Not all of them are savants. Not all of them are productive. Not all of them are even good people. For every one we "lose" to something else there are others that get into collecting my little pony figurines. Right? I think people are overcorrecting from "it's OK to be autistic" to "autism is a superpower and we should revere them".
I keep getting responses to sweeping generalizations that I'm simply not making. This is one. I'm just going to leave it there.