Ever been forced to be normal? (Version 2)

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Lately, my mom, my sister, and even some people from school have been forcing (and I mean forcing) me to be normal, like I can't be autistic around them or they don't ever want to be seen with me.

I need some help, bad.

There's not much you can do other than ignore them. If they can't accept you as you are, ask them point-blank if they love you unconditionally, then remind them that means loving you exactly as you really are, which is clearly NOT the way they are. If they answer no, then give them hell. At 17, you can probably get away with anything short of criminal behavior (ie, insults, making them cry, treating THEM as embarrassments, etc.). Still, don't overdo it. Recommend that they seek psychiatric help if they can't love and accept you for who you are, and make the word "normal" one of those Words That Must Never Be Said.

Jeez, I can relate. My parents refused to believe I was an Aspie until I was 18, and I finally got diagnosed. I don't blame them though, they were misinformed. I was forced into normalcy my whole life. Now that they know, I've felt more free to be more Aspie, but they think I'm just getting worse, or that my diagnosis is making me think I'm worse than I am. I don't have any good advise. I've never had any success with that. Try to spend more time alone, maybe get your autism out of your system? I know it doesn't really work like that, but sometimes if I can have some solitude for awhile, I'm less Aspie when I return to the public sphere.

yeah the only thing i can think of is inform them,
try to explain with metaphores(for example autism is like someone who can't hear, one cannot replace it by 'proper behaviour' just as a deaf person cannot put on 'better ears'), be patient with them

it seems to be difficult for non autistic people to cope with autism,
for some it really gets on their nerves

if you notice that, maybe you can try to be nice and quite for a while and wait until the storm is over

also if non autistic people say such a thing, they do not always mean it seriously,
it might be an 'emotional outburst' and their opinion is not necessarily the same one day to another


and in reply to your questions, yeah, they have shouted to me 'get normal!' quite often,
but asperger's syndrom was not known then, they just assumed i did it on purpose

What exactly are you doing around them?
I can't really help you there if I do not know what is it you do that bothers them.
If it's stims, then I would say not to do them when you are with them. Or if it's you tralking about your obsessions, I would say don't talk about them to them.
It may be hard at first but it gets easier as you keep trying.

Yikes Roy, I can identify too.

I was diagnosed at 13, before then the IEP said I was "emotionally distrubed."
Before then, my mom believed I was autistic, now she is saying that I am not.
I don't blame her because she had little to no information about Aspergers.

There is a possibility that she and my older NT sister may have Aspergers
and not even know it. Now that they "know", they do not
allow me to go out on my own the majority of the time.

What do you do that bothers them and vice versa?

Just so you know, being my usual autistic ways (stimming, spacing out, etc.) bothers them.

If I were "forced" to be normal it would simply result in me being reduced to a beaten quivering mumbling pile of ineptitude. Sort of like the entirety of my public school experience.

I think for some it gets easier, for others it gets harder. For me, it can feel like trying to dam a raging river. I can block it for a small time, but eventually the dam bursts and I get really Aspie, until I can reach a sort of Aspie equilibrium again.

That happens to every AS at one point in time. Damn it people, I don't wanna be "fixed"!
If you're that keen for "fixin'" what clearly ain't broke, go by a damn dog and chop it's nuts off ya bastard!

Every Aspie gets this at some point, i have had people suggest to me to just ignore the fact that i have got AS and then maybe things will be easier.....
You just have to learn to put up with it, in the end, you are who you are.

--lee