I can't do anything because I'm autistic

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Or at least that's what people think. I could never get "moral support" from my own parents unless it was something THEY felt I could do...which wasn't much. I wanted to finish school and become a veterinarian but because of my dyscalculia, my mom was always telling me I would never be able to get through the college math requirements and to focus on being a vet tech instead. I was only eight or nine years old at the time too and ANY motivation I had to work harder in school just went away. Why should I work hard when I can't do they only thing I want to do with MY life? My mom would always say things like, "Not everyone was meant to be an astronaut".

My dad once told me I was being lazy and unrealistic (those weren't his exact words) for not wanting to be a vet tech first. No, I was being realistic and economical. A lot of people seem to have this expectation that if someone goes to vet tech school and becomes a registered veterinary technician than they can bypass college somehow and go straight to veterinary school. In reality, you don't even need to go to school to be a tech. True, that might not be your official title, but you do all the things an actual vet tech would do anyway. The term is "veterinary assistant" or "veterinary aide". I volunteer at an animal hospital at the moment and am always being mistaken for a technician. The actual technician there is just a veterinary assistant, but does everything a technician would do. He got there by volunteering just like I did. I've seen somethings on the TV that advertise "vet assistant" courses, but I don't know, I think those are a scam. Many actual vet tech programs don't transfer credits (but then neither do a lot of "assisting" type programs).

Anyway, ACTUAL vet techs and veterinarians tell me that those are two entirely different career paths. If you want to be a veterinarian, be a veterinarian, only be a vet tech if YOU want to be one. Being a veterinary technician just never appealed to me. Probably because I was always told being an actual DVM was going to be "too hard" for me and to basically give up and focus on being a veterinary technician. My mom never told me and will never admit it, but she did think I was mentally ret*d. Other people compare me to Temple Grandin (I don't know why, she's not a veterinarian) but I was never seen as "smart" as her by my parents. I never gave up wanting to be a veterinarian, I had to ask about FIVE local vets until I found one that would let me come in and volunteer) and although I don't have a GED or high school diploma yet, but if I didn't plan to become a veterinarian in the future, I wouldn't even try. To be honest, if i found out somehow I could never be a veterinarian, I would probably commit suicide. I even asked my mother that if she didn't believe in me, could she at least pretend too? And she refused...even after I told her it made me feel suicidal. She's always made me feel like being a veterinarian is just a pipe dream.

Please follow your dream no matter what. I can see how important it is to you. Sometimes parents think they know what you're capable of only to be truly amazed at something they never thought you could do.

If you must leave your family for some time while you figure this out, then organize your life in such a way and make it happen. You may never convince your mother of your passion. That is her loss.

I am dreaming a little dream myself right now. You have to follow your dreams. They will return to you until they are fulfilled.

I'm going to college in the fall to be a Vet Tech. Or hopefully.

My mother never believed I could live by myself or drive (proved her wrong both times). Sometimes you just have to show them what you can do, rather then tell them. Keep vet tech as a backup plan maybe, and try for veterinarian schooling.

A long time ago, I remember you saying that you got to see some meerkats at the zoo or something, and you really wanted to hold one, but were told only the vet got to hold them. Is that when you decided to become a vet? I seem to also remember you saying you didn't want to work on cats and dogs, or on livestock. I assume you want to become an exotic animal vet so you can work on meerkats? It seems like it would cut out years of effort and expense to just buy some pet meerkats on the black market, or move somewhere that they are legal.

It was actually other kids and teachers that thought I couldn't work with people or drive so they were trying to limit me to jobs that are very isolating. Even this one test I took that all students were required to take to tell you what kind of jobs would be good for you, I got a list of jobs that were peopleless based on how I answered questions. I don't know if it was because of my diagnoses or if they were going by my functioning. But not everyone knew of my diagnoses (students) so I didn't even need a label to be underestimated. You don't need to be autistic to have this happen because my husband went through it too and he had to fight to take shop class.

You certainly do not seem stupid to me, whatsoever. Go be a vet. Best of luck to you.

They can never be in our mind, and we can never be inside their mind either. No matter how hard they try, because they do try, there's a wall between us and some people. I think at some point, we all (or almost all) have to detach ourselves and say goodbye forever to the idea that a lot of people can understand the way we function. Especially when it comes to relatives, usually they're clueless. They just can't and this isn't their fault, and we can't on our side either and this isn't our fault.
That said, I don't mean a strict opposition. I just mean that it's especially important to be careful about not caring too much about the way some people can interpret our mind, because caring too much means being heartbroken in the end. I've learned to become more selective with time. Choosing and keeping people who are emotionally sensitive enough to get it.
Follow your dreams, because the pain you'd feel if you didn't have the opportunity to choose the path you want would probably be even more important than the pain you'd feel if you chose this path and failed. Just be detached enough to not care too much about toxic voices around you, because we often tend too much to want to conform to what our relatives want for us no matter how unhealthy for us their wishes are and this is especially toxic.

I heard this nonsense from school counselors. They thought I wouldn't be comfortable doing certain things because I got too anxious, even though my academic ability was good. I thought, for a long time, my prospects would be limited because of my extreme shyness. I think Toastmasters did a great deal to help me overcome this and helped me socially in other ways as well.

I accomplished a lot of things much later than I should have, such as getting my driver's license for the first time at 48 years of age. From then on, though, I have had the courage to try new things and the mobility to get to the places where many of the events are held.