Published on 12, July, 2020
I have came out to 4 people in my life about my autism so far. I have considered all of them as caring empathetic people. 2 of them were very nice, offering to listen to me since it's a lot of things in mind and lot of feelings. The other two had a reaction that surprised me. One said nothing but "thank you for sharing" and right after that asked me for a favor. It felt like this big reveal of mine ment nothing to them. The other one asked me "is it officially diagnosed?" And didn't respond to my answer only a day after writing a message "do you want to hang out?". I'm sad because of these reactions and I honestly don't know how to interpret them.. it felt like they don't care or understand how huge of a deal this is for me.. did anyone have similar experiences?
One friend has been very interested and supportive (she may well be on the spectrum herself). Another has been an odd mix of obnoxiously suggesting I am only getting diagnosed to get more money from PIP (he has NO idea!!! I already get PIP for my physical disability and it is such a nightmare to claim, an autism diagnosis might help me keep enough points to not be downgraded at some point by their vile tricks, or it might help them be a bit less awkward with the process (hahahaha) but might not be any help at all) and asking genuine questions, although he did also make the remark we hate of everyone being a bit on the spectrum. I think if he is on any part of the spectrum it is the not having much empathy and asking rude questions part! (But he also doesn't mind a bit of an infodump, though he does also call me a knowitall sometimes) His wife is nicer about it though and we are friends with them both.