Aspies and birthdays

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As my birthday is coming up soon again I was just wondering if anybody else has difficulties with their birthdays. With each passing year I find my birthday more of a struggle.

It’s not the day per se or the fact that I’m getting older, but I find all the attention I get on my birthday rather overwhelming and sooner or later I wish that everybody just leaves me alone. I also don’t like getting presents and surprises in general. I hate having phone calls and usually everybody phones on that day and that just stresses me out a lot. It makes me feel uncomfortable and anxious and I generally just feel very, very exhausted in the end.

However, people just don’t seem to understand why I’d rather be on my own on that day and they think I’m just being a diva when I tell them not to come round or not to phone. I don’t mean to hurt or reject anyone by doing this, but I just cannot handle this situation very well.

Does anybody else feel like this?

I don't celebrate my birthday. Being born hardly counts as an acheivement, I had no say in the matter.

I try to ignore them. But my wife and family insist on having some kind of get-to-gether

We don't really celebrate them. My family send me cards etc but I very rarely see them on my birthday. My partner and I tend to go on holiday which is ok as it's only the 2 of us. I don't really see the point in birthday celebrations and it puts a lot of pressure on people to delivery something that won't upset or offend the person.

I didn't celebrate my birthday for almost 20 years now, i don't see the point

Birthdays are just a reminder that I'm getting older and that one year my mum is really going to throw the maturity hammer down on my head.

I'm neutral on birthdays. I like being able to spend time with my family, especially those that I don't usually get to see. However, I get overwhelmed by all the birthday wishes and attention. I appreciate it, don't get me wrong, but I find it overwhelming and I feel overloaded.

Although I can understand why some people may find birthdays annoying, I like celebrating mine for multiple reasons.

On a personal level, I don't consider my birthday a celebration of being a year older so much as the celebration of being here at all. I've always been someone who stops and looks at her surroundings, such as observing a beautiful sunset or watching a bee go from flower to flower, and can just be happy to be a part of it all. Then, as I have learned about biology and my odds for actually existing, I feel like I have become even more appreciative of that fact.
For me my birthday is the marker of the day that my being a part of it. If this isn't something worth celebrating, I don't know what is.

Then there is the family aspect. For me, days like birthdays and certain holidays were always considered special family time, rather than a time to sit alone and reflect.
We would have fun together as a group, especially the present exchanging holidays.
Both the act of giving and receiving gifts is special in our family although, in many ways, I like seeing what happens when other family members getting my gifts than when I get something.

When I was young, I had problems celebrating my birthdays with other kids, whom barely knew me and were really only there for pizza and fun with each other. Eventually, my family came up with the idea of doing something small and special that I would enjoy, instead.In my case, this ended up being dinner cruises on Lake George with my family and, at most, one friend.I enjoyed getting to go up on deck or down to the dance floor at my leisure during these trips and the fact that they were willing to to this for me made it all the more special.

Furthermore, I have great memories from these trips. There's the minor things that almost seem to blend together from one cruise to the next, such as the wonderful views of the lake we got on deck or the fun of kicking off my fancy shoes and dancing with other people who just want to have fun on a cruise. Then there were memories that would end up being far more important, such as a time my Grandma on my mom's side came along. She had so much fun when the music started, dancing with us on the floor in a happy and lively manner that, in a way, totally defined whole her personaliy, even if she was having a little trouble with her feet. It was one of the last times we would see my Grandma before Alzheimer's set in and one of the last great memories I will have of her.

I think that, because of a combination of my outlook about what my birthday means to me, how I celebrated it with my family when I was younger and the memories that I have because of that, my birthday will always be a special one worth celebrating.

I don't celebrate my birthday. I don't like attention, gifts, surprises etc. My kids don't even know my birthdate.

Well, on my behalf, happy early birthday.

To answer your question, I don't celebrate my birthday much. I do enjoy the birthday wishes I get on Facebook, but that aside, I never take it upon myself to celebrate having lived another full year in any way. By the next day, the novelty will have worn off anyway.