My parents being unfair (sorry if you see these posts often)

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My parents said they've known I'm autistic since I was 2, so for ten years because I'm twelve years old now. When I found out I was autistic ON MY OWN a few months ago, I thought it was the first time anyone knew and I wanted to make sure my parents knew, so I acted as such. They didn't like that; turns out they had already known and they didn't want me asking for special treatment. But then, why didn't they tell me when I was young, like 3 or 4 years old? I was definitely a smart kid, I definitely could've understood, at least on a basic level, what autism was. Is it possible I could've gone my whole life not knowing I'm autistic and then when accommodations are offered I reject them because of my parent-induced ignorance? That's mean of them, in my opinion.

As if that wasn't enough, my dad has made a point of saying my older brother (13 years old) is ADHD, and my younger sister (4 years old) is both autistic and ADHD, to make me feel that my neurodivergence is not special. I really, really doubt his claims. I think my brother is just an inattentive, fidgety teen, NOT neurodivergent, even more so for my sister. And, *I* actually also have ADHD (which I found out right before I turned 12), so my parents DIDN'T catch everything. I haven't told them I'm ADHD, though. The irony is they think they're know-it-alls about my whole brain when they really aren't about a whole half.

Welcome to WP! I hope you like it here.

And I'm probably not going to interact much with you. My bride and I are both 71 years old and we have no children. In many ways, you and I live in different worlds.

But, I'm going to say I support your parent's decision to not identify you as being Autistic. Some people are more Autistic than others but, officially, you are either Autistic or you are not.

If your Autism makes you need special treatment then identifying you as Autistic might make it easier to get the medical care you need.

But if you can get by without special medical treatment then not marking you as Autistic might be to your advantage. An Autism diagnosis might disqualify you from getting jobs that you would like and be good at. And it might make some schools treat you like you are handicapped even though you are not.

It might be to your advantage to quietly learn about Autism and use that information in living a better life...but not to advertise that you are Autistic. Many people would judge you only as being Autistic without finding out more about you.

Officially being "Autistic" would've limited my career opportunities. And then I might not have been able to retire as soon and comfortably as I did.

Whatever you decide to do, however: Good luck! Even without Autism, Life can be quite interesting.