How did your friends react when you told them about your autism?

Some folk just don't understand how huge it is, I think.  Most of my friends were great, but one person close to me, who actually had most to gain himself by understanding it, barely registered - that hurt.

I think the 2% isn't so accurate either based on my personal experience. I've known many people on the spectrum and heard of many more.. 

Seems like very uneducated about the topic.. 

Actually, my family has similar view to autism. They see things as white or black. I didn't even tell them bec I'll get the same reaction "no way this is true, this is madness, you aren't severely disabled or disabled at all". I can't even trust them to be part of an assessment. My mom is the one who taught me how to mask tho..

dont have any friends lol

probs dont need to tell anyone, they can probably guess its one thing or another.
the drivers at work asked someone if i ever talk, and its probs pretty obvious theres something odd anyway. one chatty young worker started randomly asking me about psychopathy as if he was guessing along those lines. their guesses are about as good as any diagnosis anyway as a diagnosis is just a random guess as all the disorders share the exact same symptoms.

It's a massive thing in an autistic person's life to be diagnosed but we forget that for others, we are still just who we are to them so it might not be much of a big deal and/or they dont want to say the wrong thing and/or they cant believe it. If they are true friends, they like us for who we are anyway.  It's often understood to ourselves, how we are affected, but to others they don't really have much of an idea unless they have the lived experience themselves and/or they only know of the stereotypes. I think a lot of the time people just don't know what to say. And in this day and age, we can't blame them.

I have had varying responses from friends, family, colleagues and professionals. I have also found, not upon "coming out" to a friend about being autistic, but another health matter which they didn't have any patience or understanding for, that those who don't want to care are not worth being friends with in the first place. Which is hard, because often friendships are very hard to come by and we cherish them a lot so it does really hurt when people behave the way that they do.

C'est la vie.

That sounds really dismissive of them and I would feel upset about it too

I've recently told 2 very close friends that I think I'm autistic and honestly, neither of them were at all surprised  

One friend though, who I'm not close with said "everyone's a bit autistic though aren't they" but she also told me she sees no autism in my clearly autistic son (not yet diagnosed but he has his neuro assessment this term), I simply told her she doesn't spend enough time with him so wouldn't see it anyway. I've not really spoken to this 'friend' since, I'm trying to ditch friendships that make me feel crap these days.

We're here Robert.....you may not think of us that way, but I do know for a fact that some of us regulars (me included) do think of you that way.  You may not like your friends, but we do care about you and like to have you around.....not in a "social worker" sense....but in a 'mates' sense.  I can't explain why (if that is what you are wondering)....but that is the case for any of the people I like to call a friend.

No way would I. I don't want the stigma, nor to be thought of as Ill, or broken, though I am encouraged by the way some famous people have felt secure enough in their success and clout to come out. 

Maybe autism is an illbess or a disability, and when there are people who have no way to conmunicate their distress and keep banging their heads until they destroy their eyes, it does look a bit like a dungeon. Then there are those who will say it confers very special traits too, and while it may or may not be a woke thing, I don't mind seeing neurotypical getting a few well-aimed potshots for their horrendous limitations. 

Why don't we look for a cure for being human? Because it does seem that something, somewhere is wrong with our species. This is after all the ape that doesn't mind committing acts of atrocity when not just demonstrating petty cruelty and ignorance, is capable of destroying the planet several times over, leaves no room for other species to exist, and is continuing to heat the planet up beyond the point of no return due to short-termism and greed. 

A counsellor did once tell he could see autistic traits in me, though another decided I must be schizoid. Cheers! Someone I knew me in the 90' looked at me and said very emphatically ' I guessed,' drawing attention to the way I tended to 'space out.' 

I'm so sorry you had to go through this.

People can be difficult and hard to see how they will react.

I seem incapable of making friends, at times wish I could, but other times I worry that something like what happened with you and yours would happen to me.

I don't know how to make friends. I go all but mute and can't say anything.

I'm sorry you had those negative reactions Ree.

I've only every told one person who I trusted, she immediately said 'you're definitely not autistic, I know because I've worked with autistic people'. She had worked in a care home for severely disabled people some years ago so I'm assuming she thinks autism = severely disabled. I haven't really spoken to her since. I was so shocked, she made me feel ashamed as if I had told a lie to get attention. I've not told anyone since and have decided that I'm not going to, it makes me very angry and sad that there is so much alleged 'awareness' now of autism but there is still so much prejudice and ignorance.

I found that other neurodivergent people were very positive and neurotypical people were unsure how to respond. They weren't openly negative about it, but they did things like asking me if I wanted congratulations, and I couldn't really tell if that was genuine confusion about how to react or just snark.

I think that for people who have never been through this process themselves it's very difficult to understand how it might feel- which is ironic given that so many believe we're the ones who can't empathise.

I've only "come out" to two friends. First one said I they didn't think I'm autistic because I'm such a people person (shows you how good at masking I am after a lifetime of practice!) He has no clue how exhausting being social is for me and how much I prefer to be alone. 

Second person said - well we're all a little bit autistic don't you think?

Im not sure if I will bother telling anyone else. For me it's enough to know why I am how I am. I'm self diagnosed. Maybe if I had an official diagnosis people would be more willing to accept. 

I'm starting to realize this. I tend to believe that people have pure intentions or good will and I feel naive later when I realise that they have agenda that benefits them and our relationship isn't simply two humans who care about each other and enjoy the company. Most times other intentions are in the play and it shows when I actually need them to care. Maybe I am so naive .. I wonder why is it so hard for people to just genuinely care about each other and be so clear about their intentions and give false impressions. When someone spends lot of time with me saying stuff like "I value our friendship" then I'm very surprised when they aren't willing to listen when I need to ventilate or when it turns out that they are looking for sex or work interest. Well, why not just say that instead of pretending that we are friends?!?. 

What friends? 

Friends? What are these things?

The freinds who understand autism have been great. The others have been sympathetic but have treated it as if it was bad news, which it isn't. In fact I wish I had seen your post before I told anyone.  Perhaps better not to mention  autism or autistic but just mention symptoms when you need to such as "I don't really like noisy and busy places".

Having said that, I have been surprised how many friends then tell me of close relatives who are autistic. I think the idea that only 2% of the population is autistic may be a severe underestimate.

I think for people like us particularly we get a false image of people and aren't always able to read them. I've always found this with people. I find them confusing, to say the least.

Oh, that sounds even worse than mine. Thank you for sharing this and I'm really sorry that you had to go through it.

For me it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. It was like everyone felt they had to walk on broken egg shells around me, and one friend decided she didn't want a friend with autism which hurt a lot as we'd been close since school. People reacted in a way I hadn't initially thought they would and now, I'm left feeling hurt and wishing I had kept the diagnosis to myself.