There’s an extremely common misconception that autistic people need to be right.

That we are always correcting others because we think we know better than everyone else.

And I want to explain why this is a wildly inaccurate understanding of the internal autistic experience...

I think our need to correct others is actually tied to bottom-up processing. (See my previous posts for more on what this means)

We don’t correct people because we need to be right...

We are *compelled* to correct *information* (not people) when we believe it is incorrect or inaccurate because it confuses our understanding of the world around us.

It confuses our own learned knowledge, perceptions, and experiences.

It conflicts with what we know to be true.

(Not in our gut... in our brain, cognitively, due to painstakingly acquired and integrated knowledge over time)

And the information provided is rarely shared in a way that gives us enough logic to reconsider our own knowledge or understanding of the world.

So, we offer a correction.

Usually with a detailed explanation as to why the information we are providing is correct and coherent.

We give the other person the very thing we ourselves need in order to reconsider our perspectives and perceived truths.

I could write an extremely detailed explanation about why and how bottom-up processing contributes to this.

Would any of you be interested?

Also, I’m close to completing my content library on my website. All my bottom-up processing posts will be in a catalog about how the autistic brain works.

I’ll also have numerous other content catalogs about a wide range of topics related to autism and neurodivergence...

I can use some help testing the setup and functionality on my website. Anyone willing to volunteer? 😊