My psychologist said something that confuses me

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One of the 2 psychologists who assessed me (over a period of weeks) told me last weekend ‘all evidence shows that you have autism. That’s the bad news. The good news is you’re a very bright lady.’

Why would he say ‘that’s The bad news’?

It all depends on your view of autism. Do you view it as a disease/disorder to be conquered (i.e, like cancer) or as who you are and worth accepting as you are?

Despite what others may will say in pushing you one way or the other, there's no right or wrong answer to this. You need to decide what works for you and go for it. The psychologist can offer advice and certainly views it as a disorder but you need to decide for yourself what you want to do. He can offer advice and his take, but you know you best.

If something is intrinsic to who I am -I wonder why it is a ‘bad thing’ ...
I don’t think it is something that you can cure as they have found the brain is literally different, the neural pathways etc. Nervous system is different. The genetic markers have been found and are continuing to be discovered

Isn’t it like saying ‘the bad news is, you’re a different ethnicity from me’ ? Maybe I am taking it wrong

"The bad news is .... the good news is ...." - it's just a figure of speech. I wouldn't brood on it too much.

Being autistic will make your life harder in some ways. Being damn smart will make it easier in some ways. It's just possible that the same brain connections that make you autistic, also make you damn smart.

I sense that the therapist was, perhaps, being a little facetious when he said autism was "bad news." I sense that he doesn't believe your "case" of autism is particularly severe.

I sense that he also feels that being quite intelligent would be a great help in adjusting to your autistic symptoms.

In other words----he doesn't believe you're a tragedy in making.

Ok thank you kraftiekortie

I suppose it could have been an attempt at empathy. You are seeing him, thus you are likely discontent in your life, and being on the spectrum might be at the root of that. If he were to say "You have autism but no big deal!" many people might feel that is a dismissal and trivialization of their problems.

Omg you are right! I could not have thought of that! So smart thanks

I think Kraftie nailed it. He was making a causual statement about your autism being “bad news” because he doesn’t think it’s an extreme version and because feels you’ll be just fine. If you were severely autistic and had a low IQ, I think he’d be a lot more sober in his delivery.

Autism by definition includes disabilities, and those disabilities cause problems. I felt this way until I started therapy at a prominent autism clinic. Now that I'm really getting honest with a therapist who understands and doesn't judge me, but is honest with me I can see how much pain I am in because of symptoms of autism. It's hard to accept.

It's not all bad. A lot of gifts come with autism. But it's flat out wrong to imply that there's nothing wrong with being autistic. Part of the diagnostic criteria is that we need unusual levels of support to function in daily life. That's the bad part.

Because it's a label. He probably wishes there were no labels because they bring a whole lot of negative assumptions with them. The assumptions are made by others because of the label. The good news was who you really are as a person - a bright lady. He's forced to make a diagnosis based on symptoms. He's made the diagnosis but also met you as a person which is the good news. Hope that helps, bright lady!

Everybody's different though.

I especially dislike it when people say something like "Aspergers disease" which is insultingly inaccurate and redneck level of ignorance.

I think you should tell your psychologist that Aspergers isn't bad, it's just different.

Autism is not a bad thing. Saying the good news is that you're a very bright lady implies that you're that way in spite of it. These "experts" make me sick.

Disability is seen as bad news and not a good thing. No one would want to have a disability unless they have a mental illness themselves. I wouldn't want to be blind, or be in a wheelchair, have anything amputated, or be deaf, have dyslexia, have severe autism, have severe sensory issues, have cluster B, mood disorder, psychotic disorder, etc.

I can get stuck on something a counselor or anyone said, or I thought they said.
One thing my counselor said was I was handling a recent Tragic event at work leading to PTSD.
In my head I can see his point but sometimes at work I get stuck and I believe my immune system is compromised. An allergist is in the process of lab test.

Sorry to make this about me. I’ve been home for 2 weeks and just recently started posting again.