Do people believe that you are autistic?

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I don't tell people that I have AS. I don't like for people to know and most people probably would'nt even know what it is so there would be no point in telling them.

I don't tell anyone I have AS so it doesn't happen but I really wouldn't care if they believed me or not, I just don't believe they know what the f**K they were talking about right back at them

THe answer is usually "BUT YOU LOOK NORMAL"

What are they expecting? That i will bang my head against the wall, running oustide naked screaming , or maybe they are expecting me to be a genius!! ! lol

I've only been diagnosed very recently, and I've told a few people: work, family, close friends. I was expecting a chorus of "but you look so normal!" only to discover that nobody was remotely surprised by the diagnosis. Apparently I must have come across as somewhat stranger than I thought I did.

There tends to be a lot of rah rah surrounding the whole autism movement. Never before have so many news articles been churned out in the name of greater awareness and better understanding. But what good is it if autistic individuals are not recognized as autistic? There was a professor in a Masters program that I had attempted who literally spat in my face as he insisted that I was not autistic or that if I were, it was so mild as to not be meaningful. I had disclosed right from the beginning that I had Aspergers and had gotten involved in a nasty dispute with some of the faculty members for what I felt was conduct unbecoming on their part. The staff then proceeded to engineer my public humiliation by disclosing unlawfully to the class that I had failed the term paper (a result that actually shocked a lot of people) but mysteriously, I ended up with a good grade anyway. It was a program that had security implications for the state and politics in Singapore can take on very childish tones. I left in disgust but the episode highlighted how people can actually deny my autism while making a fuss about my eccentricities.

I do not think that I am alone in facing this problem. Children in school are particularly susceptible. Even with a Dx, it can be very hard to convince certain teachers that the child needs a different sort of care. It is obviously impossible at work because no one is going to take care of you there. As many have attested here, even family members are unwilling to accept that I am autistic. It would make the many years of abuse that they have dished out just plain abuse as opposed to a self sacrificing attempt to teach me how to be a better human being.

Some people do believe it and others do not. And the only ones that believe it are the ones that are TRULY educated and know that autism is a SPECTRUM disorder.

exactly, that's it, right there

it's fascinating, that those who are not educated enough are not willing to let others educate them.

i mean, if someone, who obviously knows about it more than i do, will try to tell me something about it, my first reaction would be to ask questions until i understand it and then and only then i would decide whether i believe it or not. or if i don't care about understanding it i just think that since i am not educated enough i have to believe you, since you know about it much more.

am dont tell people am autistic,but it is often mentioned between support staff and specialists.
some staff who used to work with am a few years ago refused to believe am was autistic,despite having the very obvious form of it-the reason they gave other staff for not believing it was because the most profound autistic who lived there didnt do much of the things am did or at the same severity as am [one of them being profound sensory difficulty,it would have been hard for her to have the hearing side of it as she was also profoundly deaf,idiots]-and they said autistics are too stupid to use computers.

am always get recognised for having autism-even off autie clued up strangers,the problem is more to do with getting multiple learning disabilities understood,as most staff will say am nothing like everyone else who lives here,and state am do not have any learning disabilities,they seem to think moderate to severe retardation is what learning disability is-they tried arguing with the neuro once when he said to them am had been diagnosed with multiple LD,they said they never saw any learning disability in am,so the neuro gave them a lecture.
they spoke to dad about it,and dad told them am had been classed under MR and mLD,as well as being special schooled for both autism and LD.
they finally believed am after speaking to dad,but it has made am so fed up of not being believed by staff,just because am can use a computer well,am have given up arguing about it because nothing changes them,some act like they believe it to am,but then go and do the opposite to staff [say they dont believe it].


am find it strange that autistics themselves are able to understand that there is more to a person that what may see,but many of those who have been autism or as trained and work with autistics [and LDers] cant see past the stereotypes.

Told my mother, appears she could keep quiet about her daughter when it was just tics and habits she could mock, now I trusted her with this, she came to me and said "oh my friend at work mentioned some metal ridding herbs you should take for Aspergers." It's going to be one long and angry year if she does that again. I appreciate the advice, though I often feel lifes a stage show for her, what interesting new development can I spread about my daughter, oh joy, health related gossip. She also told my Aunt who refered to my conversational skills as "part of your condition." I told her she was truly ignorant and that I had to speak to her later after centreing my thoughts. I am glad I no longer care about people and have given up trying to initiate friendship. Trust is not a mutual entity. Not for me. Sad thing is my mothers seen the debilitating stints first hand, i'd have hoped she would have stayed quiet or have initially consulted me.

I wouldn't tell anyone other than my mother, only my best friend 'gets' me, even so I wouldn't add a 'disorder' to the mix, no need as I understand me now.

Last edited by Jenk on 05 Sep 2008, 1:51 pm, edited 5 times in total.

I haven't told anyones but several friends keep asking if I have aspergers which is why I've started researching it and I'm on here.

I tell everyone I can.

They always usually say that there's something different about me, but it's always a good thing and they wouldn't have thought that it was some sort of Autism.

I usually smile and tell them that they should have met me a few years ago. It's taken me many years to get to the stage where I pass for normal most of the time. Of course, it becomes obvious that I'm different when I show absolutley no interest in some things that "everyone" enjoys and I'm unusually keen on subjects that "everyone" either finds boring or incomprehensible.

It's nice though, different is becoming the new, fashionable thing to be. More and more people like the fact that I am, strange and unusual. I'm glad that people are finally catching on.



It's just a pity that growing up my uniqueness (in the absence of other Aspies) was seen as something threatening and malignant.

No, not always. Sometimes it's too obvious to hide. Sometimes you refuse to hide it because you're sick of it. Sometimes you figure it's a part of your identity and you just shouldn't have to hide it... You can't just assume that if you're open about it you can't possibly be an Aspie. That's like saying you can't possibly be openly gay...

I'm with spokanegirl on this. I never talk about it. There's just no point. I have never had a good experience talking about serious matters with other people not one single time that I can recall. NEVER do they listen objectively and/or compassionately, not even remotely sympathetic. My experience has been they cast a judgmental eye my way and often turn everything around on me so that everything is my fault or they give me a bunch of useless rhetoric on what I am doing wrong which I guess is the same as everything being my fault. Most people around here would be confused about Asperger's anyway and think it was something akin to classic autism or just wouldn't know how to process the information or wouldn't care or whatever. No. Just won't work so I don't talk about it.

I dont give a flying rats rear if they do or donmt.

Yes, I had this issue with school and all when I asked for important adjustments. After I educated them on AS and autism they wondered about whether I was misdiagnosed or only just 'slightly have it if at all'.

People tend to stick to thinking I am moderately emotionally unstable and/or mildly mentally challenged.

...now I don't ever see how that's more likely than being autistic.

On the few occasions where I've brought it up, people have generally seemed doubtful, with a few exceptions. I suppose for someone who's unfamiliar with AS, if you're not readily, visibly impaired then there can't be anything "wrong" with you. But it seems like anyone who manages to get an hour-long conversation out of me will start to notice certain things that will strike them as somehow different, though they probably can't narrow down how, and I notice a change in the person's behavior towards me. This almost always happens with older women.