nobody believes that I have Asperger's when I tell them

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There are some idiots out there who think AS is "made up."

I got yelled at by a teacher for saying I have AS, I was told I am not special and I don't deserve help and I am draining funds away from people with terminal illnesses. That teacher was a bastard.

You should report that teacher, unless it was too long ago.

I'm not familiar with how it is in England but here there'd be lawyers, advocates for the disabled, the school board, State Dept of education, etc.

Wow I can't believe a teacher would treat you like that! That person should definitley be fired. I don't think it's made up at all but I'm sure some people who don't understand it would think that. I also don't think it's a disability though. I don't think of myself that way at all. If you think about it actually makes some of us more able in certain aspects of life...just not nessicarily social skills. I was just reading about one person on this website who can learn any musical instrument without lessons, and quickly. I think that's amazing.

Hi everyone. I am new here in this forum and I have to confess I have been thinking about wiriting here for a while but never had the courage. I am a 23 year-old girl and I think I have Asperger, even if nobody takes this idea seriously. I explain...
(I am Italian so don't take my language mistakes as some kind of deficiency)
I was always the shiest kid, with my parents having to push me so that I could make any social contact, I was confortable only with them and I could spend entire days in my room in my own world; even in kindergarden I did not want to participate in any group acitivty or outdoor activity. I was always very anxious and quiet, I remember my dad once said to me kids should not ask their parents to buy them things and I just became obsessed about it and literally did not ask anything for days because I was afraid I was being rude. In general, I remember me as a kid being very very confused about how to interact with others, and having few friends (like... two) and being afraid they would just 'unfriend' me because I did something wrong. I began taking ballet classes and that was the only kind of sport I could do. In the past few years I have had few friends: usually I am not part of a group, if there is a group I find one person I think I can get along with and that's all; I have had a few of these 'best friends' but 1) I am not their 'best friend' (they explained to me that I don't share much and I always seem cold and not interested...) 2) I find it very difficult to keep the friendship if I am not seeing them in school or on a daily basis for other things. Believe me, I am trying. I have a little sister and my mom is always accusing me of being rude and not caring for her so much. Her favourite things to say to me are 'you have to be more spontaneous, you NEVER do something spontaneously generous for anyone, you never care, you never understand people'.


Now... I have recently had anxiety issues and as always I did a lot of research on the Internet (that's also my thing: obsessing with things and research a lot) I found the Aspie quiz. Result: 167 AS, 41 NT. That was me. In particular: not being able to maintain eye contact, difficulties in activities like catching a ball or driving, excellent marks and unusually accurate vocabulary, obsession with details and grammar... and many others. I told my mom about the test and she said I had defenetely OCD, she was laughing. I managed to get her to take the quiz and when she got normal scores she told me I had a problem, I was too obsessed with things.. and 'PEOPLE CAN CURE THEMSELVES, IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD'. I was shocked. I was asking for help, I mean... I don't know for sure if I am an Aspie, but I really want to get or get not diagnosed so that I can work on anyhting I have and stop this obsessive, anxious life I'm living...or at list learn how to cope with it.

I mean, I pushed myself and went to college and grad school, lived with other people and even went abroad for one semester. It did not work. I did not make any friends and I was so uncontrollably into my obsessions, my world and my anxiety that I gained weight and felt like I was unconcious for 5 months.

I don't think I can seek help alone, but I don't know how to be taken seriously from anyone.
I know this post is long and probably noone will even read all this. I just needed to let it all out and I hope that someone has some words of wisdom for me. Thanks guys.

First of all, congratulations that You reached Your dream in ballet that is so impressive and a huge achievement!

I relate - to me nobody wanted to believe me either though a psychologist said it (and I now have an official diagnosis too) .

The two main reasons people did not want to believe me was either:

*"oh you're just shy that's why you have those symptoms - everyone's like that but you will get more confident with practice" - divisiveness and attempts to "normalize" you by forcing you to be more social and at worst, thinking you are using Aperger's as an "excuse" to avoid interaction.

OR

*I have a friend who really has Autism Spectrum and she's nothing like you" - from limited encounters having preconceptions about the nature of how an Asperger's person should "be" like.

And more specifically to me, because I'm an immigrant, people often thought my mannerisms/voice/intonation/gestures were just because I'm foreign so they saw it as a cultural thing rather than an Asperger's thing .

It became a big relief in a way to be diagnozed so those doubts go away. But if it is of help to You, the psychologist said that it's something that if you feel you have it and read more and more and find you realting to what you read about it, then it is highly probable you have it - sort of an intuition thing . (And intution is something that only you can know it).

Also RE: other posts, that is atrocious what the teacher said! There is a website Autism.org.uk that maybe be of help it has list of services one is 'provides impartial, confidential information, advice and support on education rights and entitlements' provides impartial, confidential information, advice and support on education rights and entitlements.

RE: I agree also I don't see it as a disability, perhaps more (if one is to use conventional psychology words) akin to another variant to Myers-Briggs personality type?

From everything you have said, I believe you.

I think the disbelief we encounter stems from the fact that a great many people have little awareness or understanding of autism spectrum disorders. It's probably them, not you.

Welcome to wrong planet

After reading this thread I think they need to flip the terminology...those on the autism spectrum need to be called neurotypical and all those off it should be called assburgers.