I’ve been trying to explain how being autistic affects me to my own family, it’s just a waste of time. My wife has just been on holiday with my mother. My wife said she would sit mother down whilst away and try to explain how my life is. They returned last week and my wife just said, “sorry, I tried”. My brother gave me the,”just concentrate on the positives in your life”. My sister works with autistic children so you can guess where that led. I told one other person who I thought might understand, the reply was,” we are all on the spectrum somewhere.” I just want to scream. I told two people right at the start of my realisation of autism. they are both neurodivergent and understood immediately and both said, I thought you was. Why can’t neurotypical people get it? All they want to do is tell you that you can’t be autistic and not to worry. My mother’s first reply was that autistic people can’t talk and stare at walls. Sorry, I’m ranting now.
I tihnk it's hard because now we know more about ourselves we want other people to understand this too. We have our own expierneces to ascribe autism to. But when the people around us have known us all our lives they don't know what we hide or that we are good at hiding things. Autism seems to be measured by behaviour but it's an internal experience. Yes everyone might be somwhere on the spectrum but how much anxiety or mental health problems does it cause them? And the fact that it's a hollistic viewpoint with regards to autism, not individual things which everyone probably encounters at some point in their lives. I think fundamentally, we process the world differently. Sorry that doesn't help your situation I just wanted to say something in relation.
I tihnk it's hard because now we know more about ourselves we want other people to understand this too. We have our own expierneces to ascribe autism to. But when the people around us have known us all our lives they don't know what we hide or that we are good at hiding things. Autism seems to be measured by behaviour but it's an internal experience. Yes everyone might be somwhere on the spectrum but how much anxiety or mental health problems does it cause them? And the fact that it's a hollistic viewpoint with regards to autism, not individual things which everyone probably encounters at some point in their lives. I think fundamentally, we process the world differently. Sorry that doesn't help your situation I just wanted to say something in relation.
