Published on 12, July, 2020
My flatmate calls my autism a 'sob story'. I try to stand up against an ableist post on Facebook and an autistic man calls me 'entitled', and tells me that 'autism is only a disability if you let it be one', and I'm 'sickening' for 'making it more than it is'. My old teacher tells me that 'everyone feels on the edge of the group sometimes'. Nurses say, 'Your autism isn't as bad as some people's.' About a million people have said to me, 'Everyone's on the spectrum somewhere.'
Is it me? Am I just self-pitying and not strong enough? Or is it that no one understands?
Nobody has the right to talk about your autism like that. I guess it's incredibly difficult for people to understand how difficult it can be at times to live with autism. I would be bothered if people were saying things like this to me.
My advice is try not to get involved with negative posts/conversations about autism. The people probably aren't going to properly listen to what you're saying and it will just make you feel worse.
Comments about how bad your autism is just aren't helpful. Yes it's a spectrum and some people are more effected than others but at the same time some people may seem that they function well when actually they really struggle. And really comparing one autistic person to another is just silly. No two people are the same.
I don't think it's true that no one understands. I think there are plenty of understanding people. It's hard but I think we have to try and switch off to the less understanding comments. Sometimes I think they are actually well meant.
Try not to let it get you down.