People Knowing I Have Asperger's

Post Reply New Topic

Right now only my family and a few friends know I have aspergers, and my question is how do you think would people who don't know me very well treat me differently if they knew?

Absolutely, unless they know what asperger is, i had problems with people thinking i got some disease, it is better not to tell new people of your condition at first, let them get some time to know you.

If you tell them, they might see you as "mentally ill", especially given the fact that they probably already see you as different. Many of them won't see it objectively as what it really is, but rather as some sort of illness.

So, you might not want to tell everyone about it. However, some people are intelligent AND (! !!) open-minded, and they can see it quite well, and maybe even help you. Please note that someone might be intelligent, but not open-minded (with low rationality), so he might perceive you incorrectly. Also, you might expect girls to be more empathetic and helpful.

I am keeping it secret from everyone I know except a few of my closest friends. If I tell my family, they won't understand it. After I get an official diagnosis, I might tell them.

I told my friends and they still don't get it, so I'm having to compile an information sheet

If someone points out an aspie trait of mine, I just say something like this: "Well, what do you expect, I'm an engineering student."

I prefer to say this because, for one, it gets the point across (AS is called engineer's disease after all), and not only that but it does it in a way that doesn't make me look like I have a "syndrome." And, in addition, it's true; I am an engineering student, whereas if I were to say that I had AS, that might be considered a lie because I don't have an official diagnosis (even though I really do have it).

After I was diagnosed, only my parents knew. For me, it was a good thing that they knew, because now they're being more understanding of me.

I did tell the guy I was dating about it, but I don't think he knew what it was. He never asked me about it and we never talked about it.

I think it just depends on the person. Some might be more understanding and helpful after you tell them, others won't. Just be careful who you tell.

I find it real hard telling friends. All of my friends think I've got nothing wrong at all, since I am very good at hiding it, and also because I can display the right emotion at the right times, and I can empathise easily. Being able to display those can ''take off points'' in making your AS look visible, which is quite lucky for me, even though I do make silly social mistakes sometimes. But, I suppose we all do, and people do forget, as long as you just carry on being how you were before the small social mistake, then it shouldn't really be a problem.

But I seem to have this phobia of people knowing that I have a disability. My mum says to me, ''if you tell them, they won't think any less of you. They will like you for who you are'', and I know she's right, but it's really hard for me to identify the reason why I don't want to tell people, even though there is some sort of reason. I'm the type of person who likes everything to have a good reason attached to it, so there must be a good reason as to why I don't want to tell people about my disability, but I can't seem to find out what it is. Will it shock people if I told them? Will it suddenly make them feel quite afraid of me? Sometimes NTs think people with disabilities are unpredictable - even though I wasn't unpredictable before telling them. But no - I think the main reason why I'm so reluctant to tell people about it is because of the shame. AS is such a cruel, nasty thing to have, because it makes me feel like a freak of nature. Humans are meant to be social, and I've got that part missing from my stupid brain (if I've got one), so that is why I'm ashamed of it. Then people might think, ''oh, if she's got a disability, what's she like behind closed doors? She might just be putting on a front to meet friends, then the closer I get to her, she might suddenly start being whatever this disability is.'' I know that isn't what Autism is about, but to NTs who don't understand Autism, Autism could be anything.