Is it for a family to "not accept" their ASD child?

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Pergerlady
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13 Mar 2016, 1:50 pm

I think this is a common problem for people on the spectrum, because we're in an age where there is very little tolerance for the autistic. I had issues with my dad and my older brother when I was younger, but that had less to do with them "not accepting" me and more to do with the fact that they have a poor understanding of autism (for example, when I had meltdowns, they would reprimand me and assume that it was just me being naughty, acting like that on purpose.)



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13 Mar 2016, 2:02 pm

My folks were raised as old-school conservative Christians. They were taught that all non-conforming behaviors were moral failings.

They're in their 80's now & much has changed. As best they can, they accept that society has moved away from that model and recognizes that different people have different neurologies. So, they are...sometimes accepting, sometimes merely tolerant, but never quite grokking that it's not just a now-socially-acceptable excuse for what they consider antisocial (ie non-conforming) behavior.


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Little_Chubby
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13 Mar 2016, 3:08 pm

I am very close to my immediate family, but I wouldn't say they accept me for who I am. Then again I'm not sure if I accept them for who they are. I find my brother and mother to be far too emotional and lack self-control. That said, I don't try to force my opinion on how one should act onto them. Whereas they try to force theirs onto me, simply because they dislike any behavior that doesn't conform to society's expectations.

Despite how poor our relationship was when growing up, my father has become the only one in the family to really accept me. Even though he was a bully and authoritarian when I was a child, now he just wants me to be happy.



BeaArthur
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13 Mar 2016, 3:17 pm

I felt that my father accepted me, but he was the aspie member of the couple. My mother, who was NT, attacked me in various ways when she wasn't trying to control or change me. We had a very conflicted relationship, but I knew since the age of 10 or so that I couldn't trust her to be on my side.


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btbnnyr
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13 Mar 2016, 11:08 pm

My parents and relatives accept me and always have, no matter how weird I was.


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cyberdad
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14 Mar 2016, 6:12 am

Edenthiel wrote:
My folks were raised as old-school conservative Christians. They were taught that all non-conforming behaviors were moral failings.


"conservative" christians are really not far removed from "conservative" muslims, hindus or buddhists...

non-conformity = outcaste



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14 Mar 2016, 1:00 pm

I think some family members get pleasure from my pain. I thought things were bad in 2010.


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14 Mar 2016, 1:06 pm

Fnord wrote:
BioLife wrote:
Do you feel like your parents and/or siblings accepted you?
No. It's been over twelve years since any have visited me.


I am sorry Fnord, that must be painful. My parents visit me every two weeks but we have our conflicts.



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14 Mar 2016, 1:50 pm

My mom is doing well, trying, and knows what she's doing. And she hits the spot, most at the time. She's more accepting than she had been after all those years.
My dad, on the other hand, might've been a denier. Mostly because either he's ignorant of my case or ignorant of what's happening around. He never watched me grew.
Whenever my case or diagnosis is bought up, they fight.

My sister's rather tolerant. Yet she never pressed any issues; just some typical annoyed sibling reaction and nothing specific.
The rest of my relatives... I'm not sure. Some are patronizing, some are cruel, and some are just fine whether they knew of it or not.


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mikeman7918
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14 Mar 2016, 6:16 pm

My dad totally accepts it, making sure that I am properly informed ahead of time of anything non-routine happening in the near future, being willing to listen to me ramble about a special interest every now and again, and being tolerant of my aspie tendencies.

My mom is currently accepting of my Aspergers, but she wasn't always like that. She used to insist that I was capable of doing the things that come easily to NTs like herself and that my failure was because of laziness.

My sister knows that I have Aspergers, but she doesn't really know what it is.

I am not sure if the older of my two brothers even knows that I am an aspie. If he does then he doesn't care.

My youngest brother and I are quite close. He is NT but he also is not very social and he is quite nerdy. He doesn't know a ton about Aspergers, but he is very accepting of my quirkiness.

My extended family knows this I am a massive nerd, and I have done a good enough job at acting that they probably don't know that I am an aspie.


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deafghost52
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18 Mar 2016, 6:43 am

mikeman7918 wrote:
My mom is currently accepting of my Aspergers, but she wasn't always like that. She used to insist that I was capable of doing the things that come easily to NTs like herself and that my failure was because of laziness.

You know, I always felt like my mom was like that too, but I think it was just "tough love" more than anything - she just wanted to see me become a strong, independent young man (although my therapist seems to think she was just being somewhat narcissistic during my late teen and young adult years, and wanted me out of the house so she could have her peace of mind - but, as he even once said about stuff like this, "The truth is somewhere in the middle").
mikeman7918 wrote:
My extended family knows this I am a massive nerd, and I have done a good enough job at acting that they probably don't know that I am an aspie.

Very few members of my extended family are aware of my case. I think my grandpa is one of the only people I know of whom I made aware of it, but he doesn't seem to have much of an opinion on it (in a good way, I suppose). I also suspect one of my younger cousins is autistic too, but as far as that side of the family is concerned, so far he just appears to be dyslexic (but I feel like I know better, because since he was a kid I've observed him pretty closely, and seen that he's very sensitive to loud noises and will cover his ears at a fireworks show or a movie theater, and he also had some language delays early on, and he was also intensely fascinated with insects as a kid).


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22 Mar 2016, 2:39 am

My parents were very critical of my Aspie quirks/issues & how my other mental & physical disabilities affect me even thou they thought I was autistic sense I was a toddler & became aware of my other disabilities when I was young. They cant understand & relate to having problems.


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22 Mar 2016, 3:58 am

I am becoming more convinced that I will never be able to have any kind of relationship with my brothers, nearly 5 years after mom died and I was diagnosed. 2 of them will flat out tell you I'm a f!cking liar, psychology and psychiatry are full of bullsh!t, and I'm a lazy SOB that deserves to die, or rot in maximum security prison for the rest of my miserable life. They still blame me for mom's death (she died after complications from nearly bleeding out on me, due to a peptic ulcer. She was in the hospital for 6 months, then in a nursing home for 3 months before she died). The youngest brother and his wife, even though he has 2 kids on the spectrum, consider me to be a worthless bum, since I'm on SSDI. All of them are of the opinion you work until you drop dead, then get back up and start working until you drop dead again. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. (I was the worst of the bunch with that attitude.). Last time I spoke to any of them was over Christmas, and even then I got the f!ck you attitude. The next to the youngest I haven't talked to since mom died, since I was told I would be arrested for trespassing if I came within 500 feet of what used to be mom's house, which he now owns.

My high school's graduating class motto was "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams." What a crock of sh!t! My dreams have been nothing but nightmares, and still continue to be that way!



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22 Mar 2016, 8:36 am

I think it's pretty common, but luckily, it's not a problem I've experienced. Some of my extended family decided to ostracize us when I was very young, but not because of autism. (More because my parents think abuse is a bad thing and needs to be spoken out against.) But those who didn't ostracize us then have never had a problem with me being weird or autistic. In fact, most of my Dad's extended family (who I know better than Mom's) are on the broader autism phenotype themselves. (Many seem to be undiagnosed ADHD and or learning disabled - a whole lot of very smart people who struggled in school.) I've never really stuck out for being weird, because they're all weird too.



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22 Mar 2016, 9:18 am

My Mother ignored doctors saying I'm Autistic, and My Sister still doesn't accept I don't understand social customs, If I don't like I gift I tell them.


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deafghost52
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27 Mar 2016, 8:42 pm

Meistersinger wrote:
I am becoming more convinced that I will never be able to have any kind of relationship with my brothers, nearly 5 years after mom died and I was diagnosed. 2 of them will flat out tell you I'm a f!cking liar, psychology and psychiatry are full of bullsh!t, and I'm a lazy SOB that deserves to die, or rot in maximum security prison for the rest of my miserable life. They still blame me for mom's death (she died after complications from nearly bleeding out on me, due to a peptic ulcer. She was in the hospital for 6 months, then in a nursing home for 3 months before she died). The youngest brother and his wife, even though he has 2 kids on the spectrum, consider me to be a worthless bum, since I'm on SSDI. All of them are of the opinion you work until you drop dead, then get back up and start working until you drop dead again. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. (I was the worst of the bunch with that attitude.). Last time I spoke to any of them was over Christmas, and even then I got the f!ck you attitude. The next to the youngest I haven't talked to since mom died, since I was told I would be arrested for trespassing if I came within 500 feet of what used to be mom's house, which he now owns.

Jesus, dude. Sorry that your brothers feel that way - they kinda sound extremely douchy, if you ask me. Also sorry about your mom and that one of said douchy bros now owns her former home and isn't willing to let you near it - that's pretty d*** scummy of him.
Meistersinger wrote:
My high school's graduating class motto was "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams." What a crock of sh!t! My dreams have been nothing but nightmares, and still continue to be that way!

Lol, that is pretty stupid for anyone who has dreams better avoided than pursued.


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