Do most people know you have autism?

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I probably was being to kind to myself. Weird doesn't seem right either according to its definition. Hm.

Reclusive/solitary seems best. Everyone will project their own connotation onto what that means.

One common problem is that if someone barely knows you and you say you are Autistic, they are very prone to assume that you are like the only other Aspie they ever knew. It is not a good word for description when standing alone.

The only people I tell are those closest to me so like my husband and family. Otherwise it's no one elses business as people can use it against you I have found, multiple times.

Definitely don't mention it in a workplace if you don't need to.

Just to my wife, my mother (who I just 'came out' to a couple weeks ago. She took a minute and.. 'oh... that makes sense'), and on-line. Maybe one or two of her friends. Otherwise, people just consider me to be a bit eccentric.

Those who know don't acknowledge it (because they see "labels" in a negative light). I stopped sharing it even when relevant because I haven't experienced anything positive coming with it.

I don't talk to many people, but I'm not shy about it either. Sometimes disclosure seems relevant to me. Example, I tend to wear headphones when I'm out to help drown out the noise. The people at my bank know because I might be standing in line with my headphones on, and I wouldn't hear them if they said the word next. They know waving at me is a better way to get my attention. They know why I'm doing that. I find most people in professsional or business settings are understanding with me as a regular customer. and I go to the same few places for the most part.

Oh I know eccentric. Haha! But I have also been told that I am wierd as well.

I told my new neighbour about my AS when asking for notice of noisy activity. It was a calculated risk. Fairly often, people will assume that anyone asking for special treatment is lying to get it, because they can't imagine anyone unlike themselves. One common failure of imagination is when people speak to others who don't understand their language, and even wild animals, expecting comprehension. They also shout at the deaf, even though it makes lip-reading harder.

Eccentric means you accomplish something in an unconventional way. Weird means that you do things in an unconventional way, but the observer can't see the accomplishment.

No, it doesn't come up much. ASD is such a complicated subject that I feel I may as well try to share a special interest in string theory to a bunch of rednecks, for all the good it would do. Not that I'm interested in string theory.

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Right now, most seem to think of me as "eccentric" or "unique".  Having witnessed how many of them treat people with depressive or bipolar disorders -- as unruly and mentally-deficient children -- I am not exactly inspired to "come out".

I mean before I moved, most people knew it as i made no effort to hide it but now, I know nobody here so no?

I don't think that they would use the word "autistic", or even know what it means, but people are always reminding me of how "different" I am.

Apparently my voice has this odd, "swallowed" tone, my gait is unusual, my attire somewhat shabby, I am prone to gesture with enthusiasm...I could go on, sigh.

People often give me a weird smile (or on occasion, a grimace ), although I must say that once they get to know me, I am usually considered fun and on occasion funny.