Feeling self conscious about my Autism

Hello Kitsune,

I just tend to get through the day, like you, in my own quiet way. However it can sometimes be disrupted by those I am living with, namely my parents.

Remember, you are NOT weird. Your Autism simply makes you do things differently to others.

Hi CaliforniaDreamer95 mostly I’m lucky in that most of my friends are either Autistic, probably Autistic or Autistic friendly NTs. So I can usually go about my life without feeling too self conscious about how I am. But sometimes a combination of circumstances makes me feel all socially awkward and weird!

Thanks! ‘Autistic not Weird’ right? I need a t-shirt saying exactly that

Hi CaliforniaDreamer95 mostly I’m lucky in that most of my friends are either Autistic, probably Autistic or Autistic friendly NTs. So I can usually go about my life without feeling too self conscious about how I am. But sometimes a combination of circumstances makes me feel all socially awkward and weird!

Thanks! ‘Autistic not Weird’ right? I need a t-shirt saying exactly that

 Awareness of how we present to others or of others intentions towards us isn’t our greatest strength!

I’ve shared the first article on my group’s page so hopefully it will resonate with and help some more people.

Yes, I can certainly understand and empathise with your first point. It also connects to your second point.

I can remember being told, ‘I’m not really interested in 11th and 12th century Andalusian poetry, I was hoping you were going to ask me out.’ This after a month of discussing Ibn ‘Arabi and his contemporaries. Funny lot NTs.

Thank you for sharing those two articles. I’ve just read the first one (will have to read the second one later). I can completely identify with everything in that article, especially this:

“I feel trapped in a world that judges me at every turn and yet never bothers to try to help or understand.”

I guess as late diagnosed Autistics, we’re on the catch up here. Perhaps, certainly in my case, we’ve always known that we’re different, but we’ve never fully understood why, until now. Now we’re left trying to read all of the literature so we can finally understand how our Autism means that we behave in certain ways. Of course it still remains the case that why it is appropriate to disclose our diagnosis in some circumstances, it isn’t appropriate in others.

The second point of the article I can relate to too. That being a woman on the spectrum can lead to me being misconstrued as being sexually forward when in my head I’m just being friendly. I’ve never had a problem with being friends with men and I’m Avery open and honest person, so if I feel close to someone as a friend then I’ll tell them. However, while I mean exactly what I said, I have found that it frequently gets misinterpreted as sexual interest, when it isn’t! 

On a more serious note:

This article may interest you: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/aspergers-diary/201503/being-misunderstood

Recently I have been reading cross-cultural autism studies in psychology and psychiatry domains. And anthropological studies of autistic experience and societal conceptualisations of autism.

‘(1) A holistic view that considers the place of autism in the larger sociocultural context. (2) Attention to the local and historical particularity of the concept of autism. (3) Attention to the lived experience of people with autism and those close to them’’ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11013-015-9450-y

 I think I remember you telling me about your t-shirts some months ago! Oh how I wish I had the nerve to wear one out! 

I have a variety of T shirts that say, ‘Kiss My Aspergers’. Perhaps if you wear one of these you may find that parents will offer to help with your scouting duties.