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Parent doesn't believe diagnosis

FlowerFace

I was diagnosed in my thirties. After spending such a long time struggling to fit in to a largely neurotypical world this came as a relief, and allowed me to make more sense of my experiences.

I'm aware that a lot of people in a similar situation are met with cynicism and get the 'you don't look autistic' response, but what I wasn't expecting was such dismissal and disbelief from one of my parents. I also feel like this attitude belittles the struggles of autistic people, because they don't believe they are dealing with anything beyond what is 'normal'. 

Does anyone have advice, or been in a similar situation? 

Parents

  • Hi, I’ve had  exactly the same, I got told,’you don’t look autistic, autistic people don’t talk and look at the wall’

    I think the older generation watched Rain Man and formed an opinion on all of autism. My mother said he hair dressers daughter had been tested by the NHS and was told she was a little bit autistic. Sorry it’s like being a little bit pregnant.

    what I found was the slowly catchy monkey way was best, little bits of what makes me tick every now and then. I do think that sometime a parent can think that  we are attacking their parenting.

    my mother had been sectioned 5 times for breakdowns, yet I can’t have autism!

  • in reply to Roy
    Roy said:
    it’s like being a little bit pregnant.

    I've always loved this phrase! Laughing

  • in reply to Paul

    But it isn't really true. Genetic research has shown that much autism is caused by genetic variations that are common in the whole population. Therefore, logic would suggest, that some people exist who have a concentration of these variations that are just below what would lead to diagnosable autism. These people are therefore 'a little bit pregnant/autistic'. While using the phrase, "Everyone is a little bit autistic" to dismiss the problems that diagnosed (or potentially diagnosable) autistic people have is wrong, we need to acknowledge that people with autistic traits who are not diagnosable, do exist.

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  • in reply to Paul

    But it isn't really true. Genetic research has shown that much autism is caused by genetic variations that are common in the whole population. Therefore, logic would suggest, that some people exist who have a concentration of these variations that are just below what would lead to diagnosable autism. These people are therefore 'a little bit pregnant/autistic'. While using the phrase, "Everyone is a little bit autistic" to dismiss the problems that diagnosed (or potentially diagnosable) autistic people have is wrong, we need to acknowledge that people with autistic traits who are not diagnosable, do exist.

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