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9 Stupid Reasons Why People Don’t Recognise That I’m Autistic
Why no one wants to believe I’m autistic
One of the hardest things about realising that I’m autistic in adulthood is that many people around me don’t want to believe that I’m autistic or accept that I have additional needs because I am on the spectrum. This goes a step further when the majority of the research and media representation historically has centred around white boys who either are geniuses or are non-verbal with much higher support needs. Consequentially, many autistic women and girls have fallen through the cracks and are struggling with every aspect of their lives, unaware of why they feel so overwhelmed every single day.
Although I did show consistent signs that I was autistic from a young age, the adults around me didn’t recognise that I was autistic for the most stupid reasons. When I finally got my diagnosis two years ago, I was infuriated and felt betrayed that people’s ignorance, lack of autism awareness, and personal biases were the reason why I only recently discovered that I’m on the spectrum.
In the South Asian community, there is an abundance of stigma when it comes to neurodiversity, with many parents believing that our neurodiversity is personality faults, or the effects of the ‘evil eye’, and a lack of faith. This is such a damaging…
