Published on 12, July, 2020
I was diagnosed autistic not so long ago in my early 40s, the psychiatrist who diagnosed me said I mask phenomenally well that it goes almost undetected.
My family say I should wear a badge that lets others know I am autistic because I can come across rude when shopping or in other social situations where people are new to me. I wore a lapel badge that said I’m autistic to trial it a few weeks and it did make a huge difference when i was shopping, I realised sales assistants willing to help more, more smiley.
The flip side of it is, do I really want people to know I’m autistic ? It feels like a label and does that mean I am giving people an opportunity on passing judgement without knowing me??
Thoughts please? X
I have travelled a lot in the last year as my wife and I are currently long-distance, and after some bad experiences, I got a sunflower "hidden disabilities" lanyard for my last trip. I found airport staff and stewardesses were very helpful when they saw it. They didn't know I was autistic, just that I had some kind of issue that might make me struggle a bit. I'm trying to get in the habit of wearing it in other situations where I might come across as flustered and confused by social interaction and making on-the-spot decisions e.g. when I had to get some documents printed at the bank a while back.
You have to do what makes you feel comfortable and if that helps when travelling or getting important things done its an aid to carry out tasks majority of people would find easy, we need them visual cues or aids, not for us but for others at times to understand us.