Published on 12, July, 2020
For the second time, I was told by a GP that I "suffer with autism"
No I don't. I am autistic and any suffering involved comes from my needs as an autistic person not being met predominantly, in fact, in health care settings.
Grrrrr! Partly venting my spleen here, but at the same time I know this faux pas is born of ignorance not wilful intention to insult. This GP was trying to be sympathetic, I'm sure. He does not seem to know much about autism though since he's asking the patient who has diagnoses of autism, dyslexia, Irlen's syndromes and has further been identified as a synesthete, whether I have an SPD diagnosis - excuse me while I bang my head on brick wall (metaphorically, of course).
Then he stated I "suffer" with autism.
Are you folks getting the same from health care professionals? And how do you go about correcting them?
This obviously isn't his fault. It's just ignorance because he hasn't been trained. But none of us is getting very far, if our GPs don't understand what being autistic means. I'm wondering if it's time I popped my old trainer's hat back on and offered to do some training sessions for them free of charge.
I don't think I would try. Honestly it's too exhausting dealing with how NTs, especially those in the healthcare system. Its medical model all the way there.
Sad, but I have just sorta written off the NT world, for the most part.
That said, today I wrote a complaint letter to an organisation, so I do care, I just know nothing changes,. The NT way is to just make a superficial appearance of change, then carry on as normal.
Yes, indeed. I read a lot of Strategy and hear a lot of language about acknowledgement and acceptance, but hear no real understanding or see any services in practice.
I think a lot of medical professionals really try their best but I've realised it's two different languages. I'm with someone at the moment who really tries and seems like they've got some awareness but at the end of the day I've realised I'm still masking because of how they communicate. So I'm questioning now whether between us it's worth any of our time.
I think I will always be on the back foot in these situations.
I agree even more with this now. There are many instances where my brain and mouth do not connect but this isn't my problem as such it's to do with how I communicate. I've realised if I am asked outright I will give the required information, but if it's up to me to read the situation and give this information without being asked specifically, or to infer that now it's my turn to speak up this doesn't always happen. I now totally can see the double empathy problem in action. I can see why I get frustrated that I don't always get what I need from situations. It's not about lack of confidence, it's about a different way of communicating. I feel because of this, even though I can advocate well for myself, I'm often going to be on the back foot. It's a constant learning curve to adjust ourselves to other people or state exactly what we need but how can we do this if we aren't properly aware of our differences? Not to mention, the processing involved and yes there is a delay. I feel it doesn't matter how much "awareness" someone has of autism, if they fundamentally communicate differently, there's always going to be a difficulty. This is what masking is and health professionals need to be more in tune with what's going on.
Not to mention the money on social security that is paid out because everyone in this culture is suffering from mental health issues. We should help people become functional in society a lot earlier. I'd to think that things will change...
I completely agree.