Examples:
Yesterday I was at a health evaluation for a driver’s license. Everything went well with my physical health, but at questioning, my autism was bought up. I was accused of needing help with learning in primary school (despite of my grades, that were usually B (I know, I’m lazy)) and now I need a psychological evaluation.
When I started high school, most professors infantalized me, but later stopped after I proved myself (ok, some didn’t stop, like the slovene teacher and the sport teacher/coach).
When I meet someone new, they always think I am intelectually disabled, before proving otherwise…
Why is this happening?
Edit: It means a lot to talk to people who support me trough this (even if only on the internet). I took a psychological evaluation today. It included an iq test like form (easy, but didn’t finish the whole paper), questionairs and some cordination tests (that in my opinion I was bad at). Just waiting to get the results. Hopefully I’ll pass, but I can’t really do anything if I don’t, can just maybe try somewhere else in the EU (i think).
I feel this post so bad. I’m autistic but according to people that know me well, I’m also highly intelligent. Yet, when I first meet people without masking, they treat me as if I were stupid. This is such an issue in my life that I have often joked about getting a shirt that reads, “I’m autistic, not re****ed”, but my NT friends have said that it’s a bad idea. Anyway, this happens until a situation presents itself in which my intelligence is demonstrated, then people treat me as some sort of genius/savant. It’s ridiculous, but I’m used to it.
It’s great, that you found people, that you can joke about your autism without being judged or made fun of. My friend from primary school was one of those people, but later he started going to gym and it inflated his ego to the point, that he stopped respecting me (for “going to a worse high school”) and some other people for various stupid reasons.
Yes, thank you! If I can’t joke about being autistic with someone, I don’t become their friend. Thanks to therapy, I have been really selective with who I allow in my life, and it has made a major welcomed difference in my quality of life and how I see myself.
That sucks about your friend’s inflated ego, but I’m happy you see it so you can adjust accordingly.
Well, congratulations on finding people, that respect you. About my friend, I can’t really adjust to him only talking about being better than me and shaming me for having autism and “being lazy” (partially correct, but still).
Thank you! The way I’m handling it now is that if I were in a similar situation like yours with your friend, I would just distance myself from them. If we were together and they started making me feel bad, I would just leave. I don’t need to endure emotional distress because someone else is rude to me. I can just leave.
Yes, I did, but he is my neighbour, that lives practically under my window, so I can’t fully remove him from my life.
that… doesn’t sound like a friend. I’m sorry for you
He isn’t a bad person, he just inflated his ego (probably just temporarly).