Afraid of not being believed?

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Is anyone else afraid of telling people about your AS/Autism/PDD because you are afraid the person won't believe you?

I am. Also, how do you deal with people not believing you?

I told one of my friends, who said he disagrees with the diagnosis but had thought about it previously. I said something like, "Well, I do," or something. But, I was wondering how other people deal with not being believed? (As a side note, I have told a few other people, and they have believed me, including my girlfriend, who is around me for significant portions of time and is a mental health professional.)

I have told several health providers that I have all the signs and symptoms and have self-diagnosed. They have all been dismissive and it really pisses me off. They don't ask any questions as to why I have come to this conclusion. They have a fixed idea of what AS is and don't seem at all interested in what has brought me to this conclusion or open to the possibility that they may be lacking information. They seem uninformed and not interested in new information. This seems like typical NT behavior.

I mean, if someone came to me and said they had, say, bi-polar and their behavior did not fit the limited knowledge base I have about bi-polar, I would ask questions and then go look things up to see if I was missing some new information. I do not understand people who do not approach things this way.

Thanks for posting this. I have been needing to rant on the subject.

Yes. I dont know if i have it or not. I dont like being judged. I also dont view myself as disabled . I feel or want to be normal. You are right. People have a stereotypical view of AS which is only natural. Its a numbers game. Statistically if drawn at random its unlikely you have AS. Im also concerned about over diagnosis. There are some people who are hypercondriacs and think they have AS. Some of which undoubtongly are on this website.

Meh I've been accused of making excuses and such my entire life, so I hardly care anymore.......if i go in for a diagnoses I'll take whatever the hell they say I have even if it's not AS but for now I don't feel like there is anything the mental health system can help me with so I haven't bothered.

Well one shouldnt assume doctors have absolute knowledge. Their education is only a good indicator for a floor of knowledge. most doctors i see are pretty bad... i wish i livrd in a more educated and wealthier area because thats were the better doctors are located.

It's actually happened to me before. At school I told some girls that I had an ASD, and they just said, ''no you haven't, you have to physically look different if you got that'' and, ''there are a lot of people out there who really have disabilities so stop faking just to let you off of being called weird, because that is what you are!'' But I think they were just saying that just to be nasty. Or they were probably thinking of other disabilities and conditions that do involve physical differences, like Down's Syndrome.

Then I told a friend at college about my AS, and she didn't believe me. She shook her head and said, ''no, I don't think you have that. People with Autism don't talk and are good at maths and science''. That is just a ridiculous stereotype, but this girl didn't seem to understand that. She just said what she's heard about it. I suppose I would think the same if somebody next to me said they had Tourette's Syndrome, and I thought Tourette's Syndrome as somebody who yells swear words out, but it's not always necessarily like that for everyone who has the condition. But that's just how I see it because I've never met a person with Tourette's Syndrome, and I've never suffered with it myself. But I saw a documentary on the telly a few months ago about a young man with Tourette's Syndrome, and he shouted out animal noises only when he was moving. When he was still, he was in complete control of it. And his noises he shouted were worse when he got excited or anxious, even when he was relaxed. And he found it hard to talk aswell - he kept taking a quick breath in between every other word, which made him a bit socially awkward. And his condition has also given him anxiety issues. So I've learnt that there's more to Tourtette's Syndrome than just shouting out swear words.

Its funny. I thoughti would get disbelief, but the people I've told are like "yeah that's definitely true of you"... I actually have started to wonder if I have more noticable symptoms than I realized.

My mom has gone so far as to be able to point out people who are more severe than myself just on my description and comparing them to me...

I don't think I would tell anyone that might not believe me... I would hate to make any of my relationships with others more awkward than they already are.

I don't tell that many people. I tell on a need to know basis. The biggest benefit of my diagnosis is that it explains things to me. I can understand now why I react to things like I do, and I can be proactive in helping to prevent some things.

Why does it matter if others believe you, and why even tell them in the first place? It doesn't serve any purpose, unless it's a situation where you need to tell someone about it to explain some behavior or preference.

_________________
I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

I dont really understand what AS is. I identify with almost all the symptoms to varying degree. A lot of the stuff seems normal to me. I am at the point in my life where i am starting to notice things i have not before. Its creepy and scary. I had a stereotypical view of AS too. Whats thr point of getting tested for AS anyways? i believe tests for AS and others are BS because of all the variables for error. You go to doctor A get a yes and then go to doctor b and get a no. I still plan on getting tested soon but im really frustrated. I also cant believe im just realizing i may have AS now.

Actually it took me getting psychosis and withdrawing from school to really question myself and be aware.

Sometimes, yes. I'm obviously odd, but some people read that as nerdy or gifted and think that calling me disabled would be an insult. It can be intimidating to challenge that idea.

I try to get rid of that fear, though. The way I figure it, it's my responsibility--to some degree at least--to educate people about autism. People need to know that autism may not be immediately apparent; that it's not like those horrible Autism-Speaks-style fear-and-pity awareness ads. Even really profoundly autistic kids aren't like those ads; they show only one side of it. There are good times, too, for everybody. And, if somebody realizes, "Hey, autism isn't what I thought it was," then that will help pave the way to acceptance, because people will stop expecting autistic people to be hopeless tragedies and start expecting more along the lines of reality--people who are disabled, different, face some challenges but are basically human with personalities and individuality like any other human. Maybe one day they'll need to interact with more autistic people than just me, and they'll look at that puzzling little kid or that awkward teenager and think, "Well, I can't understand them; but that other autistic person I met back then obviously had a mind of her own, with thoughts in it; maybe I'll try a little harder, watch and listen a little more closely, and be able to figure out what this person is trying to tell me." If I can spread the idea that autistic people aren't like that soulless-child, empty-shell stereotype, maybe people will be just a little more likely to try listening, instead of writing us off.

I was diagnosed with autism as a child and it was apparently quite obvious as I couldn't speak and was told they I should not be admitted to kindergarten. However, at present time I probably wouldn't meet the diagnosis for classic autism anymore. I rarely tell someone my history unless I am slightly interested in a friendship with them and feel the will find out sooner or later so then don't want to go through the entire rigamarole of "you acted liek you were normal. you tricked me lol" or something like that....and also I want see if they will "accept" that part of me and my history. On the other hand, I rarely (and not sure have ever) told acquaintances be it health professionals or "friends". First off, a lot of health professionals I've experienced have no first hadn knowledge of real autism except for what they've been taught in a book therefore often have very cliche perceptions of it. So the uneducated types will either "click" with them and then they will dismiss your future or seemingly unrelated health issues like a 'child" or well it's just the autism .....or they will maybe think its' more of this "children who were abused or neglected "autism"" stuff going around and it's all mental?. Or even perhaps accuse of just acting out for attention? I dunno. The 2 doctors I have been to extensively knew I had autism and there was no disbelief. I'm seeing a new one who is going through the process of reviewing my medical history and i'm particularly seeing him for my autoimmune disease so i'm not really weighing in on the autism thing with him because tbh it's not my biggest health issue anymore. But I find when I meet new ones or new people they're not sure initially what "mental" category to put me in. And also I can for periods of time under circumstances of low anxiety act relatively normal and communicative as i'm not low functioning at all (especially on risperdal, cymbalta, sprionolactone, and vyvanse). And then really, there is no reason to tell acquaintances not in the health field of your past diagnosis, etc unless you are realy really close to them and therefore don't forsee them using that as an excuse to dismiss, dislike, or write you off in the future if you make them mad or annoyed make sense? but then again, that goes for a lot of disabilities and illnesses. Hope this helps!

I don't usually tell that I have asperger's unless it's relevant in the situation. When I go to the doctor I usually tell, because of my sensory issues (I'm really sensitive to pain). When I try to explain my sensory issues, so that the doctor will know to be extra careful, they don't usually pay any attention to it.

Not so much "I'm afraid they won't" but more like "I know they won't."

I'm self-diagnosed at 27 not only after looking at my current behaviors, but after looking at my past behaviors and experiences and matching them to the common experiences of women with Asperger's. And hearing the voice in my head exclaim, "This explains my life!" over and over.

That's not something most people could wrap their head around even if they wanted to!

If they don't believe me when I tell them, they're not worth talking to.