how do you feel about autism and being autistic

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My friend's daughter also told me a similar thing. (6yo) She said adults and children don't make friends but you and i are friends. I did not know what to say either. On one hand, i was happy that she liked me enough to consider me a friend on the other hand it made me feel like i am not a reliable adult-like figure in her life.

^ In some ways it make you MORE reliable. Not the traditional (authoritative) way maybe, but the safe way.

I am childlike --- positives and negatives to that too. Positive: I experience life with wonder and playful enthusiasm. Negative: When others have a negative impression of the characteristic.

I wish i was never born.

I hate it. I think my life would be much better if I was an NT instead. I wouldn't be the weird one. I would have had much better relationships and would understand how the world worked better.

Never?

IMO, what we need is a much better-organized autistic community in which some of us develop ways to make it easier for autistic people to have "social bonding" with each other, on our own terms, not necessarily in the standard neurotypical ways.

To that end it would help, for example, to have more groups of autistic people who share specific common hobbies/interests.

More generally: However we may feel about being autistic, I feel that we need to accept it and do what we can to help build autistic-friendly ways of being.

Throughout my adult life, long before I knew anything about adult "autism," I always knew that I could never fit in with "normal" folks, and hence that my only viable social strategy was to seek out fellow oddballs.

Even in childhood, I have always been aware that I was an oddball, in both good and bad ways.

Anyhow, back on the main topic of this thread: As for how I personally feel about being autistic or generally weird: I feel that I've had a much more interesting life than I would have had if I were more "normal." And my life strategy of seeking out fellow oddballs has certainly helped in that regard.

Very well said!



I'd love if you would share some of those strategies. .
It'd be so great to have some sort of general, 'universal' way to address newly- met oddballs that would assure that they're in good company, are welcome to unmask if they'd like to cause we totally get it, etc.

Cause I 'd personally love to have the same kind of welcome....

I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean, it's all I've ever known. I can say that yeah, I'd love to get rid of the sensory stuff, for example. But would I still be me if my brain was wired differently? I dunno. Somedays are harder than others, but on the whole I do like who I am.

Nothing but pain and stress and above all missing out on certain birth rights taken for granted by NT`s

I feel nothing good about autism, but respect others who have had different lives who feel differently as long as they don't dictate to me as strangers who don't know me about how i should feel.

Honestly, I'm proud of it. It's who I am, plus its allowed me to become so knowledgeable about certain topics in the first place.

Although I will admit that getting bullied in elementary school for being "weird" sucked, plus sensory issues also suck (although some of my sensory issues now aren't as bad as they were when I was younger).

I cannot imagine any other way of being (and I don't want to try)

Feel it is a round peg in square hole diagnosis, feel disclosure allows manipulative ableism.
See no benefits to being singled out.
Far from a positive it has many negative consequences unless those profiting out of misery as "experts" like neanderthals doing brain surgery.

It is one of those things that isn't just misunderstood but is something that is OK to be misunderstood. For example, I get upset from unavoidable loud noises, which is the only area I don't fit in in this society. I need to be in a world where some noise doesn't exist or can be prevented or does not rely on loud sudden noises to alert people. Like making all apartments soundproof and not having young families in the same apartment building as childless adults, and car horns being made so they can easily be heard but aren't sharp and sudden, and cars and motorcycles with loud engines are banned, and each store and restaurant has a no under 5's policy for certain times of the day. All that sort of stuff.
But I understand it's not possible to live in a world like that because people whine about discrimination, so as an Aspie I've just got to suffer on.

Mind you, these days the minority come first over the majority and the majority are made to accept the minority, so I wonder if that could apply to autism one day? Changing the world to make us happy and anybody who doesn't like it is automatically called disrespectful and is named and shamed. Hmm.

You are so right. We badly need this!