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Zexion
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15 Sep 2012, 7:37 pm

Is it likely you have AS if your grandparents and the rest of your family except your parents and your brother think you could have it?

I was told by a psychiatrist 2 years ago that I "... am a spectrumity and may have AS" but I was never offically diagnosed as there was no further diagnosing... My grandparents were told about that but when I tried starting a conversation about that with my grandmother, she just quickly changed the subject. She just said:"I looked it up on the internet and it didn't sound like you".

My parents and my brother on the other hand, were a lot kinder. They thought it could explain certain things about me.



Pileo
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15 Sep 2012, 7:52 pm

It's very possible to have Autism and have everyone around you be in denial.

It's not something limited to Autism. It happened to me with Celiac Disease. I spent years being told I was hypochondriac and that my pain was fake. If people can't see the problem, they automatically think it's not real. It's really selfish, imo.



Zexion
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15 Sep 2012, 8:01 pm

Thanks for that post...



PixelPony
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15 Sep 2012, 8:29 pm

Most everyone I know, friends and family, did not believe me until I had a clinical diagnosis. Even then, some seemed to resent me being right.

So you may be quite right, even if everyone else is in denial.



jamieevren1210
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16 Sep 2012, 8:29 am

My mom is still in denial. She forbids all discussion related to autism and AS. Even after my clinical diagnosis...


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kirayng
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16 Sep 2012, 9:48 am

jamieevren1210 wrote:
My mom is still in denial. She forbids all discussion related to autism and AS. Even after my clinical diagnosis...


Same here. I believe it's because of the negative stigma attached to autism... it's too bad because she is possibly also an Aspie and we could be closer if she accepted my diagnosis.



jamieevren1210
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16 Sep 2012, 10:01 am

kirayng wrote:
jamieevren1210 wrote:
My mom is still in denial. She forbids all discussion related to autism and AS. Even after my clinical diagnosis...


Same here. I believe it's because of the negative stigma attached to autism... it's too bad because she is possibly also an Aspie and we could be closer if she accepted my diagnosis.


My mom also happens to have some traits


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Jeanna
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16 Sep 2012, 10:30 am

This seems to be quite common among family. It might be that people have gotten so used to you that they just see your AS traits it as a personality quirk. Or it could be that you feel safer around them so the traits aren't as pronounced. I know that's the way it is with me. I can look people I'm close to (some of my family, close friends) in the eye when I talk to them sometimes, but I can't with most other people. My family is also used to me memorising things and info dumping on them every time I get interested in something new; other people definitely aren't so keen.

Besides, like others mentioned, there's the stigma associated with being on the spectrum. People don't usually want to be associated with that, and quite often, they will probably think that you'll be better off not doing so either. People, like my parents, tend to view being on the spectrum in a negative light. Like when I talk to them without eye contact, they'll often call me autistic just as a way of insulting me (because they think I'm being deliberately rude), and not because they think that I'm really on the spectrum. It's a bit like equating being autistic/an aspie with being stupid, and when you say you might have AS, what they seem to hear is that you might be severely abnormal in some way. It's unfortunate, but from what I've experienced, it's pretty common.


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Mego
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16 Sep 2012, 1:33 pm

jamieevren1210 wrote:
kirayng wrote:
jamieevren1210 wrote:
My mom is still in denial. She forbids all discussion related to autism and AS. Even after my clinical diagnosis...


Same here. I believe it's because of the negative stigma attached to autism... it's too bad because she is possibly also an Aspie and we could be closer if she accepted my diagnosis.


My mom also happens to have some traits


Ditto. Plus I come from a family of intellectuals...my dad just read a nonfiction book on economics for the heck of it. People on the outside seem to notice that there is something "off" but my family just sees this absentminded, shy, quirky girl that loves collecting post cards.



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16 Sep 2012, 6:31 pm

Like I've said before, my mom, ever since I was diagnosed with "regular" autism when I was 4, until I was re-diagnosed with AS when I was 13 still won't believe that there is such a thing as AS. I wouldn't be surprised if she, along with my sister BOTH are diagnosed with AS and both of them be in denial.


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