Do people take your difficulties seriously?

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When I tell people I trust about some of the ASD-related difficulties I face, they just laugh and brush it off as if I were paranoid or making things up. According to them, I'm just being lazy or eccentric.

Does this happen to anyone else?

Do you think such people might consciously pretend everything is "all right" so that you don't feel inferior?

Yes it happens quite frequently, and can be very, very frustrating.

Many people don't understand the difficulties I face, but do take them seriously,
so I don't talk about AS-related difficulties often.

Yes, I'm careful now who I tell/what I tell about any difficulties I have..

A lot of people can only understand "difficulties" or "disabilities" if it is an obvious one. Something they can see with their own eyes..


Suffering from any hidden disability is hard because of this issue.

I see the reaction of disbelief as a form of bullying, and I don't take it too well from people
who should know better - if they are trained, educated and their job is to work with people, then they should be able to spot the impact of hidden disabilities such as AS or mental health problems.. .. and be a bit nicer about it ! !

Yes, definitely. I've been told throughout my life that I was being dramatic and making stuff up and had to toughen up or I wasn't gonna get far in life. Even teachers and mental health professionals who should hav seen and understood my issues said those kinds of things.

Only my therapist understands.

Everyone else has the, "Me too!" disease or just attributes my problems to "being shy".

Most of my closer friends understand the root causes of my more troublesome AS difficulties, but all too often I find the most derision when someone claims the same affliction without really putting themselves in my shoes. It always helps to recall that nearly everyone else has some kind of mental block, but to stop the tangent or change the subject when someone aligns themselves too closely with your experiences, thereby marginalizing them. I find simpler social ties by seeking to understand quirks in those who have found the same reasons to humor my own strange persona.

If i had a penny for every time i heard "But you seem so normal"...

For the most part, no they do not.

I don't seem to even speak the same language as most other people so I don't bother communicating with them full stop, let alone discussing my Aspergers.

I usually don't tell people about my AS unless I've known them for a long time, though I'm more likely to talk about things in general that bother me. I can also tell who can and can't be trusted to talk to about these things, so whenever I do people always take me seriously.

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At my old job, my office clerk didn't take my difficulties seriously. He just expected me to connect the dots and use "common sense." In high school kids didn't seem to care about my problems despite that I was in special ed. They probbaly thought I was faking them. They also thought I never listened.

I don't tell people about my AS but I don't think they understand if I do mention my issues. I once told my aunt on the phone I have a hard time with cooking directions and I don't understand them and she told me I just read the directions and do as it says totally missing the point.

I have also mentioned my anxiety and how stressful things are and what I got was "Buying a house is stressful for everyone."

I have been told college is hard for everyone when I talked about my learning problems and how college would be too hard for me.