I understand. Iβve said the very thing theyβve said and know that I meant well, but it was not reassuring and certainly not helpful. Thank you for sharing this, my friend.
@fredhincanada For what it's worth, I'm not mad at the people who have said that. Hell, I've probably at least thought, if not said, the same at some point.
People react the way they do @wolfwood1203, when they get into a situstion they don't consider "normal" (whatever this "normal" may be)! Could be self protection, just ignorance or "I don't want to have anything to do with it. I just assure him that he's "normal" and go my way"!
@cerebus666 I get that. Everything mental health related tends to be hard for people to deal with unless they've gone through it. So it's just easier to try to be reassuring. Unfortunately, it's not as helpful as people think.
Maybe you could read the blogs of beautiful @samihain ππ and master-blogger @kungfury! Recently they both blogged about their autism spectrum. Very open and interesting for all! Could be worth your while to check them out π!
Self diagnosis is valid, it's very hard to get diagnosed and it took a lot of research and stress before I found someone who could diagnose me (at the age of 35). Don't worry about what others say, most of the time they mean well and are just uninformed. I usually use that as an opportunity to educate them. Late diagnosed autistics often have trouble unmasking, myself included, so try to be patient and understanding of yourself. π
@samihain I wondered why there was such a pushback against autism, until I learned that it's a fairly new diagnosis (the first case diagnosed was about 80-90 years ago). I'm still trying to figure a lot of stuff out, so I'm not too mad at family and friends reacting that way. Anyway, thank you for that, your reassurances, I mean. It's helpful to hear someone who knows what I'm feeling tell me that it's valid. I'll do my best to be patient with myself.
