• I had an autistic friend that when she was realizing she was autistic, attempted to fail (pass as NT) online autistic questionnaires and still popped as autistic. She was in the “Just trying to convince myself it’s autism?” stage and trying prove herself wrong.

    • I’m just entering that stage after a seeing how some of my friends have started treating me once I told them. With these friends in particular, now everything I do is somehow an autism conversation starter.

      • Example 1

      Me: I spent last learning about abiogenesis. Have you guys looked into that?

      Them: omg, that’s so autistic

      • Example 2

      Me: I cut it off with the [autistic] girl I was dating. She had some red flags that really turned me away.

      Them: Okay, so you’re both, which means you guys have communication deficits.

      It’s like I stopped being me with personal characteristics, preferences, and interests. Now, I’m an autism case without any individuality outside of autistic traits. Also, to them, I’m not autistic. I have autism. This has really strained the relationship to the point that I don’t really desire to spend anytime with them. It’s sad, because I’ve known them for over 5 years, and up’til now, they had been pretty cool.

    • omg, right?! I found out as an adult not too long ago. Initially, I was told by two friends that are both psychologists and had known me for over 5 years that I was autistic. I completed a bunch of online assessments that all found there was a strong probability that I am autistic. After that, I went and got a thorough 3-4 hour assessment completed by a psychologist whose sole job is to test for autism, and was directly told halfway through the assessment that I was surely autistic. I still didn’t believe it for maybe a month. Now, I’m 100% convinced, but that acceptance takes a while sometimes.

    • yeah, I get caught off guard sometimes when I think I’m not “that autistic” and then run into a meme. the latest thing is that I started watching Love on the Spectrum and feel like I’m watching documentary of my life. it’s hilarious to me 😆🤦‍♂️

  • Hahah I recognize every one of these spaces I’m another late-diagnosed adult, and the weird thing about it is that I didn’t start having these conversations with myself until after being diagnosed

    Masking is a hell of a drug

      • I’m too scared of people
      • I’m too sensitive
      • I misbehave/don’t pay attention because I’m bad
      • Autistic people are so cool and smart
      • I might have a personality disorder
      • Actually, my friend thinks I’m autistic
      • Nah, I’ve been misdiagnosed before
      • I’m just trying to come up with excuses
      • Now I’m being rude
      • I’m always trying to come up with excuses
      • HOLY FUCK I’M AUTISTIC! THINGS MAKE SO MUCH SENSE!!
  • You’re forgetting the future stages:

    • holy crap! im autistic
    • hey everyone, im autistic
    • okay, i guess it just explains everything
    • nobody seems to care that much
    • alright, i’ll go find a good-paying tech/accounting/science job now
    • proud to be ASD, if anyone cares