# Touch Of The 'Tism Touch Of The 'Tism is a catchphrase people use online to joke that someone is slightly autistic or showing traits associated with autism. First documented in a 2007 Rule 34 forum reply and used sporadically on Twitter through the 2010s, the phrase went viral on TikTok in 2022 as self-diagnosis videos and reaction clips picked it up. ## Origin The earliest known internet appearance of the phrase sits in an April 29th, 2007, reply on the Rule 34 Paheal forum. After one commenter attacked a gory NSFW drawing of Steve Irwin and a stingray, another responded that the first poster might have a 'touch of the 'tism'[3]. The expression likely predates that comment in offline slang, especially around British and Irish schoolyards[2]. From there it drifted onto Twitter. User @Simply_Satin posted the phrase on March 18th, 2010[4], and in 2013 user @thesixler suggested renaming Asperger's to 'a touch of the 'tism,' a tweet that gathered a modest 20 likes across a decade[5]. These were isolated uses rather than a format taking off, and the phrase stayed niche until the next decade. - **Platform:** Rule 34 forum (first use) / TikTok (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2007 ## Overview Touch Of The 'Tism works as a soft euphemism. Instead of flatly calling someone autistic, posters frame a quirk, a stim, a hyperfixation or an unusual sitting pose as evidence of a mild case. Urban Dictionary entries describe it as indicating 'a smudge of autism,' often aimed at oneself as self-deprecating humor or at a friend as a jab[2]. The phrase spread especially in Ireland and the UK before crossing to American TikTok[2]. On TikTok, the typical post is a first-person confession video where a creator points to a specific habit, like crossing their legs a certain way, lining up objects or infodumping about a niche interest, then captions it as proof of a touch of the 'tism[1]. The tone sits somewhere between genuine self-recognition and ironic diagnosis, which is partly what drew pushback from autistic creators who argued the catchphrase trivializes the condition[1]. ## How to Use Posters typically pair the phrase with a specific behavior presented as evidence, like sitting with both feet on the chair, memorizing bus timetables or reorganizing a pantry by color. Common convention is to deliver it in a joking, self-deprecating tone, often in a TikTok voiceover captioned 'me realizing I have a touch of the 'tism' over a shot of the behavior in question. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Touch Of The 'Tism? It is a catchphrase and euphemism used online to say that someone is slightly autistic or shows traits associated with autism, often as self-deprecating humor[1]. ### Where did Touch Of The 'Tism come from? The earliest known internet use is an April 29th, 2007, comment on a Rule 34 Paheal forum thread about a Steve Irwin drawing[3]. ### What does Touch Of The 'Tism mean? Urban Dictionary defines it as having 'a smudge of autism,' used to joke that oneself or someone else is a tad bit autistic, with roots in Irish and UK school slang[2]. ### How do you use Touch Of The 'Tism? TikTokers typically point to a quirk like a specific sitting pose or hyperfixation and caption it as proof of a touch of the 'tism, as @cptsdwhisperer did in a September 2022 video[9]. ### Is Touch Of The 'Tism still popular? It became widely used on TikTok in 2022[8], but by January 2023 creators like @futuretown_ were grouping it with 'neurospicy' as cringe slang, and autistic creators criticized it for stigmatizing the diagnosis[11]. ## References 1. [https://rule34.paheal.net/post/view/2051]() 2. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Touch%20Of%20The%20Tism]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/touch-of-the-tism]() 4. [https://twitter.com/Simply_Satin/status/10669904272]() 5. [https://twitter.com/thesixler/status/381523124799299584]() 6. [https://twitter.com/bronzeagemantis/status/1112877037272920064]() 7. [https://www.facebook.com/1685666568225641/posts/2902768909848728]() 8. [https://www.tiktok.com/@sierrabagheera/video/7085395687570984234]() 9. [https://www.tiktok.com/@cptsdwhisperer/video/7141771657735195950]() 10. [https://www.tiktok.com/@wonder_art/video/7123253172994411782]() 11. [https://www.tiktok.com/@futuretown_/video/7187913132361223466]() 12. [https://www.reddit.com/r/fakedisordercringe/comments/z4mnaj/wtf_is_a_tism_radar/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/touch-of-the-tism Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library