this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
30 points (89.5% liked)

Autism

6894 readers
6 users here now

A community for respectful discussion and memes related to autism acceptance. All neurotypes are welcome.

We have created our own instance! Visit Autism Place the following community for more info.

Community:

Values

  • Acceptance
  • Openness
  • Understanding
  • Equality
  • Reciprocity
  • Mutuality
  • Love

Rules

  1. No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments e.g: racism, sexism, religious hatred, homophobia, gatekeeping, trolling.
  2. Posts must be related to autism, off-topic discussions happen in the matrix chat.
  3. Your posts must include a text body. It doesn't have to be long, it just needs to be descriptive.
  4. Do not request donations.
  5. Be respectful in discussions.
  6. Do not post misinformation.
  7. Mark NSFW content accordingly.
  8. Do not promote Autism Speaks.
  9. General Lemmy World rules.

Encouraged

  1. Open acceptance of all autism levels as a respectable neurotype.
  2. Funny memes.
  3. Respectful venting.
  4. Describe posts of pictures/memes using text in the body for our visually impaired users.
  5. Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
  6. Questions regarding autism.
  7. Questions on confusing situations.
  8. Seeking and sharing support.
  9. Engagement in our community's values.
  10. Expressing a difference of opinion without directly insulting another user.
  11. Please report questionable posts and let the mods deal with it. Chat Room
  • We have a chat room! Want to engage in dialogue? Come join us at the community's Matrix Chat.

.

Helpful Resources

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Well I think I might be autistic, I've wondered why I feel so different from other people, why it feels like I am taking my entire life, why when I lose focus, or am not being focused on i become completely silent and struggle to make even simple comments, and why I have had to watch and learn from others to become remotely social. I guess those are all signs of autism. I took that RAADS-R test and got a score of 141, which is slightly above the mean for autistics, I also took a few other of those quizzes.

But my question is what happens now? What do I do? I don't feel comfortable asking my parents if I can get examined, I can't really afford to do it myself, but I guess I could try. I don't want to just start saying that I'm autistic, and have to mention that it's self diagnosed because I think we all know the stigma around that.

Heck I'm still in the stage (or I assume it's a stage because it matches that one post here where they talked about their stages of realizing they have autism, and I related completely to it) where I'm not sure if I am not just faking this whole thing. So what do I do now?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] Thoven@lemdro.id 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Honestly? Just keep living your life. It can come as a real shock to discover you are autistic, but you have to remember that you have been your whole life and have made it this far. It will take time to come to terms with - if you need help processing, that's exactly what therapy is for. Many health insurance plans these days cover a few sessions a year. If you're still on your parent's health insurance plan and are worried about asking them, you can just say you're working through some stuff happening at work/school/friends/whatever. Or that a lot of your friends have benefited from it and you want to try it and see.

With time you'll come to accept that this is just part of who you are. It doesn't define you, and it's not a new thing that's going to throw your life off course. In contrast, it will likely actually improve your life over time. Understanding this about yourself will help you see and understand a lot of feelings and behaviors you've been unable to explain in the past. And now that you know about these things, you can seek to improve yourself or set healthy boundaries depending on what's appropriate. It's a journey for sure, and there will be parts that bring new meaning to "ignorance is bliss". But in the long run you will be a better person for it, more comfortable in your own skin.

[โ€“] Sketchpad01@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Thank you, finally knowing why I do things is fantastic. I'm excited to continue to learn about what autism is and what it'll mean for me, even if it's painful at times. Thanks for the response