Published on 12, July, 2020
My daughter is 18. She has been suffering with anorexia and body dysmorphia since she was 13. Academically she is exceptionally able but has always struggled socially. She has only recently, in the last year, had the Asperger's diagnosis. She is devastated about and cannot accept it. Her meltdowns have increased and her eating has severely deteriorated. She is refusing to receive any support. Is anybody else experiencing a similar situation?
Hi, I’m a 25yr old male who was diagnosed at the age of 16. I can relate to your daughters devastation on being diagnosed. I struggled to accept it for years and never wanted to talk about it and every time my parents talked about getting help I would have countless meltdowns.
The good news is I did accept! I started reading up about Asperger’s and it explained so much about myself and some of the issues I had as a teenager, it all started to make sense. I think the key to accepting it is to learn and try to understand as much as you can about it. It’s also important to initially focus on some of the positives. In my case I saw positives in having obsessive interests I was passionate about. I saw being ‘black and white’ as a positive as it shows me to look at things in a very logical way.
Now at 25 Im proud to be Asperger’s. People actually like me for having some of the aspie traits, like being honest and straight with people. Being Asperger’s is a huge part of who I am and although it comes with a lot of struggles I wouldn’t change it.
Ive always struggled socially meeting people and still do but I do have friends and a successful social life.
I’m very sorry about your daughters current struggles, but I hope reading this gives you hope and positivity that things will get better :)