When did you accept your disabilty and how did you handle it

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Even with all the special services in class as a child,all the tantrums as a child I never accepted I had a problem,even as a adult when I would freakout and bang things I never really thought much of it .


Now at 26 I accept it and see how easy and good life is for everyone else and I hate it ,I hate it so much. Why do they force us with "intellectual disabilty" to live a full life ,why not offer us a exit.


It sucks so much not having the intelligence of a normal person and I had it so much.

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you? And, if so, why?

I work with people who have intellectual disabilities, and I think the general view is to give them "full lives" so they can be treated as equals. But, of course, this decision is not necessarily being made with the individuals with the disabilities. So I'm curious to hear whatever you have to say on that matter.

I feel your pain Samy, I'm also 26 and have the exact same problem. I was diagnosed with Asperger's as a child and had to be put in resource classes throughout school. I ended up dropping out of high school my sophomore year then got my GED. I'm on permanent disability because of my intellectual disabilities. It sucks that everyone else can just go out and get a job but i can't. People don't accept me because of my disabilities and it's almost to the point to where i can't stand most neurotypicals except for my girlfriend and daughter.

How do you wish you were treated?

I was diagnosed Aspergers just last September. It took several months for me to accept because I kept doubting the diagnoses but that seems to be fairly common.

For me. After acceptance I have been able to drastically reduce my anger because I now know why I get upset at the little things. I look at life differently. It's been very humbling and eye opening to find out that I'm autistic. I'm happy to say that I am learning to embrace my child like awe for things around me again. Not that I don't have bad days but life is so much easier now that I'm not banging my head against it.

Reading your posts sAMY I can see that you are an intelligent person. We may be lacking something because of how our brains are wired but that doesn't mean that we are stupid. I hope you'll be able to see it for yourself someday. Good luck.

Basically there seem to be two polarised responses to discovering ASD status: these are 1) it's a relief - "that explains so much I never knew before" and 2) it's a disaster "my life is ruined".

There seems to be an age factor in which way people go; older people like me, who were well into middle age before discovery seem to go more to (1). Younger people in their 20s (in particular) seem to go to (2) far more often.

I think, however, that a grieving process is common to both - less severe and longlasting in the first group. The reason for that is possibly that by middle age or older, you have already faced many of life's dilemmas and know that you have coping skills, born of experience. And by my age (ancient) far worse things have often happened than a diagnosis of Aspergers, which at least has some positives too. I think back to the "worse things" that are in the past - serious illness, deaths of loved ones, workplace bullying, accidents and adverse events affecting myself, my children, my friends, times when I was poor and struggling to support dependents and myself - and what I have learned is that you are never ever powerless, no matter how bad a situation - and I have had some stinkers.

I don't think of HFA as primarily a disability, and that's another point of subdivision between the 1's and 2's - in both groups there are subgroups which see HFA as a disability, or a difference. It's more helpful for me to see it as a difference. Everyone is in some way different; people on the spectrum and people who aren't.

I love some of my HFA differences - it conferred advantages for me in music and in academia; it confers advantages of analysis to me now, as research is something that I will always enjoy doing. I am fortunate that I have met many other people on the spectrum since discovery and have the solidarity of belonging to a mutually supportive group who accept and understand what it is like to be on the spectrum (most are over 40). So our pooled life experience provides an extensive knowledge and experience base to draw upon. Some of us are activists - we promote Aspergers awareness in different ways - giving presentations to groups like Rotary for example, and potential employers like banks and computer companies. We come from a neurodiverse perspective and see ourselves as part of that diversity.

It's interesting that as a whole, if there was one thing the group would wave away with a magic wand - if we could - it would be anxiety. That's the number one issue that affects us all. It seems to me from the group and from WP that it is right up there as a primary source of distress on the spectrum (so it's my favourite research topic). Even so, I notice a lot of resistance to any solution other than psychiatric medications on WP, which saddens me, because there are other far safer options. Accepting "my disability" can't be separated out from accepting my self. That's part of who I am; and I can go through life, basically, affirming myself or rejecting who and what I am. The first is a happier state in which to live; the second - living in permanent self-rejection - seems to lead to self-defeat, despair and hopelessness. And I want to live as fully as I can for as long as I can, and give it my best shot. It may not always be as good as I would like it to be - though overall, it's the hand I was dealt and I want to play it as well as I can.

I have a few disabilities in addition to Aspergers & I accepted them because I had to live with em all my life so I was aware from an early age & didn't know how to be normal. My mom told me about Aspergers after I graduated high-school. I looked it up online abit & didn't think much of it at the time till years latter after having problems on lots of forums. I remembered someone on a couple had mentioned WP & i thought an Aspergers form might be a better fit for me & it was.

I was the only one who ever did accept my disability. I didn't have a choice. I knew I was slower than all the other kids with social skills, motor and handi coordination, math and other things but everyone else kept pushing me to try harder. I think it was harder to accept AFTER the diagnoses, I used to have a fear of autistic people so when I was diagnosed I was afraid because I didn't understand.