How do you feel about "invisible" autistics?

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Perhaps if enough older women told their stories with the complaint that they can't afford an official diagnosis, that the professionals who should know better would learn how to diagnose autism in females.

that reminds me of an instance once when i was temporarily sharing a house with strangers in another country, which happens to be the country my ancestors came from. this girl (party-girl type) asks me where i'm from. i tell her where i'm from. she looks shocked and confused, then intensely stares at me and my face and my arms and my face again for several seconds, and then utters, "but... you're white!". well, you don't say!

wise as a pudding past its expiration date, subtle as godzilla in a bright pink bathing suit. i thought i was supposed to be the autistic one in the room...

she was later dubbed as "the brains" by the owner of the house. good laughs

Doctors have a long history of ignoring the unique needs of females. Its a nice idea, but I suspect its going to take more than telling their stories. The sad reality is that doctors will go there when research is done. And research will be done when money is allocated.

Doctors might have a "long history" of ignoring female concerns.

But even doctors can grow. And they grow through education.

We all can't be Dr. Martin Luther King---but we can at least emulate him in some ways.

or rosa parks. one doesn't exist without the other. i read a little about her life story the other day, i found it fascinating

...What's the story ?

I don't want to air it in public.

But nothing major came out of it.

It is fine for people to tell their stories of not being diagnosed and still not being able to afford diagnosis, obstacles to getting assessed, etc. As long as they don't say they are autistic without official diagnosis, they are not misrepresenting anything. It is fine to say they suspect they have autism, but have trouble getting assessed.

Why does it matter? Their pain is real.

Don't take the bait!

This person goes from thread to thread, derailing it by claiming that only people diagnosed with Austism have autism, and causing fights. At this point, its really more of a trolling, although I suspect what we have is an autistic person being rigid and hyperfocusing. But really, it seems to be all he can think about, and arguements certainly aren't going to change his opinion. It will, however, change the tone of this thread, and completely monopolize it if you let it.

Thanks for the heads up

Do you mean me (the OP) or the guy who posted before you?

Sorry. I meant the person to which you were responding.

Me a troll? I hope not.

I do like bridges.

Hi btbnnyr (is that funny "cat talk?" ),

I self-diagnosed at age 69. And I'm very happy I finally did so....you might even be happy for me if you knew me. In fact, if you knew all of the folks here who self-diagnosed, you might feel the same way about them as well.

But you feel, I can not say what I know to be true? Even if it helps ease the hurt I felt for my entire life??? Why is that? Don't you feel I have a right to ease my pain using what I know to be true??? What if I'm only 90% correct, and the other 10% came from another reason(?)...do you feel this would diminish the validity of my belief?

I'm not using up valuable public resources needlessly....please explain how my having a more peaceful life diminishes your life...and how do you think that's un-reasonable?

Do you feel my or other's claims may, somehow, increase the trials of the "professionally diagnosed" aspies on our forum (besides yourself)??? Can you explain and show examples???

I don't treat your position as "bait" but instead as a seriously held concern, that you would share with others. Let's discuss other alternative points of view and their value to the "claimer" and to society.

P.S. If it hasn't happened to you then it's hard to explain the absolute certainty that comes with suddenly (much comes flooding in after the first moments of realization) having all those slights, lack of friends, etc., etc....., all those things you never understood....literally HUNDREDS of situations, questions, scenes from your life.....throughout your childhood (and adult life for most here) ALL FALL INTO PLACE AT ONCE.

I don't want to speak for all self-diagnosed adults on this forum but many folks here have described finding out in the same (or nearly the same) words. If you've never had this happen to you then you may have trouble understanding this situation. Let's talk.

Yes, an epiphany moment. The magic when the book of knowledge opens up and you get a quick look.