Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi. Young autistic guy here.
I just recently signed up here and I'm not used to writing in forums at all, but with this subject I find myself really eager and passionate to write about it.
Maybe I haven't dug deep enough on the internet, but I see less resources for people who have both mental illness and autism. I have both. There's a stigma surrounding it, where it seems 'impossible' to have both be co-morbid, to basically have both at the same time. The fact is, both are possible. If anyone's needed to read that, who feels invalid, or a complete fraud/fake, you're not. Many factors can create mental illness. Trauma, loss, bullying, etc. Even non-autistics can have one or more mental illnesses or physical ailments.
Why is it important to have more resources? Because from my own personal experience of being made to feel as if I'm lying about having both, you can feel so, so misunderstood. The mental health side gets put on the back burner and gradually things deteriorate for those affected, because there's not enough discussion and resources about mental illness and autism being both common together.
Hi! Welcome to the forum.
I also have autism and mental health issues, and I find it's really difficult to find information/resources tailored to autistic people with mental health conditions.
It's good to see that both mental health and autism are being talked about more, but it'd be nice to see professionals linking the two together!
I hope you find the forum useful - I have. It's good to talk to people who understand.
Thank you for the welcome! :)
Exactly. I've written letters to complain about the ignorance, explaining that the two can co-exist, but I get the silent treatment. :/ In their eyes, you only have one thing, nothing more. It stems down to ignorance, fear to get involved in treating the mental health conditions, because mental health in itself still has so much stigma, and backwardness. There are a lot of people who want basic human respect, not a trip to see a professional who makes them leave the appointment with more disappointment than relief. :(
So far it feels really refreshing that my little forum post has gained some responses, haha. xD I always find that I can communicate better when I type.
It's really frustrating, but hopefully people will eventually start to listen!
Typing is definitely easier than holding an actual conversation It's nice to have some thinking time rather than having to give an immediate response (and potentially getting it wrong!).
That sounds great Haha, I think I'd find it hard to learn from pictures too!
If you have an android phone or an iPhone, on the app store all you need to do is type in AAC, or AAC Voice To Text. You can pick different voices. The one that I use is called Speech Assistant. It has pre-written words that you can choose from, such as small words or sentences, or you can even type in your own words/sentences.
I got a small book on sign language..but I haven't picked it up in a while, because if I can only see pictures that don't move, I can't really tell whether I'd be doing the sign language correctly or not, so that book is collecting dust.