Regular reminder that being an asshole is not a symptom of any form of neurodivergence. (You can replace “neurodivergent” with depressed, anxious, bipolar, etc. and the diagram works equally well)
ETA: social faux pas, awkwardness, and genuine symptoms of neurodivergence don’t make you an asshole. I shouldn’t have to say this? An “asshole” is someone who enacts a pattern of abusive, controlling, harassing, and/or harmful behavior with no remorse or concern for how other people are affected.
Or, hear me out, you could listen to them infodump because it will make them happy?
or, hear me out, listening to the ins and outs of a topic that at best holds no interest and at worst makes you uncomfortable is labor, that shit takes spoons.
nobody owes me free labor just because they idly wondered about hobbits and i decided to sperg on them about the deep history of middle-earth. i’d rather politely be cut short about my special interests than make someone feel burdened and quietly foster resentment about it.
in fact i actively tell people they’re allowed to tell me to shut up if i ramble too long, because being on the spectrum does NOT entitle me to filibuster someone else’s train of thought whenever the fancy strikes me.