Are you open to friends about your Autism?

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i have no problem telling it, people here usually dont make a big deal ut of it.

Friends on the 'net, sure (after all, I know them from here). In person, I don't have any friends (well, my mother is my friend..., but that probably doesn't count in this context).

As I always say, my mother tells people around here that I have Autism, as I don't interact with them; she doesn't want them to get the wrong idea about me, because she knows how people are (how they assume the worst of people). Instead of being seen as that creepy farmer Dan type of person who occasionally walks around with a rifle, he's that autistic man who's as gentle as they come, and it's nothing personal when he doesn't wave or say hello back.

I just tell everyone. If they've got a problem, sod it. If I don't tell them, my Tourettes manages to blurt it out!

i have to tell them. they notice anyway.
better they know the truth about you when you first meet them, rather than them always being confused and upset about who you are and how you be.

I have no problem in telling people I have AS. Around my area (southern Ohio) nearly everyone that learns I have AS associates it with being smart. I know a lot of you have met negative stereotypes with it, but so far I haven't. And even if I did, it still would not affect me. Part of my new mission in life is "autism awareness." I am incorporating this in my new ministry of music.

I have nothing to gain by telling uneducated people that I have AS. The only person I've ever told was a college professor of mine, who just happened to be a retired psychologist.

Hear! Hear! Having lived with AS for 50 yrs and only known it's name for 5, I can assure you beyond all doubt that whether or not you tell people around you, they know you are not like them. If your oddness has a name, at least you can begin to educate them on what Autism is. If you don't tell them it has a name, then you're just a weirdo. And don't kid yourself that you're passing for normal most of the time; they're just not laughing at you to your face.

What friends? I have very few friends and the friends I do have are mostly supportive. My best friend was like "What, why are they testing you for that?" She's in denial, just like she's in denial about her youngest son who clearly has AS or HFA and that was even validated by extensive testing done by the school district.

I agree....I struggle with the notion that it is a taboo for me to tell people. I don't want it to be a taboo.
I Should feel no shame in telling people for the following reasons:

1. I help run a public venue, and often dealing with all the people can be very stressful...when things get too bad, i can start behaving badly...and I don't want to feel like I am "not allowed" to explain why I am acting badly...cranky-melty-confused...etc...

2. Ideally we have been toying with the idea of having meetings for people on the spectrum at my venue...There is no "meetup" that happens inside the loop, and the one I went to in Sugarland pretty much caused me to have a meltdown...So since we might eventually be having some sort of Houston Inner Loop Aspie/ADD/PDD group at my place, it is inevitable that people are gonna know I am on the spectrum.

I used to be really secretvie about it but now I am much more open, at least to my friends. My friends will often ask why I make certain movements or why I don't feel comfortable talking to anyone or why I'm not excited when they are and, if I know and trust them well enough, I will tell them about my Asperger's. But I don't tell everyone.