Can people just automatically sense if you are on spectrum?

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AspieSingleDad
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28 Jan 2018, 11:56 pm

I'm a physical therapy assistant student currently in doing a clinical at a long term rehab center. I spend my day surrounded by OT-Rs, OT-Ls, COTAs, PTs, PTAs, and an extremely intelligent and knowledgeable speech therapist. I follow a PTA around, and we have a lot of discussions about various personal things, just to help the day go by and to get to know each other, I'm sure. The rehab team in question has accepted me as a student with open arms. The nursing staff at the facility doesn't seem overly friendly, but they don't have a good reputation either, they seem like they don't like their jobs.

So far I've been there two weeks, and tomorrow I'll be starting my third week in the facility. As far as I know, nobody knows or suspects I'm autistic. Heck, one of the PTAs asked me to tag along with him for an exceptionally difficult patient who refused treatment with him the day prior, and I did so. I joked around with the patient such as the patient grumpily says, "Don't run over my toes.", and I respond, "I wouldn't think of running over your toes, but if your put your fingers on the ground its open season." As the other PTA and I joked with the patient and each other, the patient proceeded to go to the gym and worked with us and had fun doing it.

I have four weeks left in this clinical, so we'll see what happens. Right now I'm being treated pretty nicely. It's very hard to pull off this level of NT-simulation though, especially when I'm learning to know the patients along with a staff of 30 or so people, the location of everything, planning the schedule for the day based on the types of patients I receive, etc. I'm exhausted by the end of the day. But it's not like there's some "sixth sense" that somehow rejected me, either.

Food for thought.



beady
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29 Jan 2018, 12:57 am

The OP hasn't been back since the day after he posted this topic. I hope he has found his way.

I have absolutely no doubt that people who meet me know that I am different within a very short time. I also think I often know when I meet someone on the spectrum. I'm sure there are people on the spectrum that have such mild differences from NT's that they can blend in more easily and then some blend in less than they realize.

I think it would be immensely helpful to teach the general public about the nuances of communicating with us.
I would be so grateful if people would stop trying to fix me or take advantage of me.