Should I tell my school mates that i am autistic?
I have disability rights at school and i have a counselor who helps me about all things because I am considered disabled. I wanted some adjustments in class and accommodations such as longer exam time etc. She told me that she could talk to my friends about my condition but she also said it wouldn't give a good impression. She is right but the thing is teachers will put me in a separate room for exams for example and they will think 'what's special about her that she gets this treatment?' and they probably will be mad about this. School is really hard for me so i really need some help from my teachers. I talked most of them and even the angriest teacher has been very kind to me. Because we were so poor all the time even tho my mom always suspected that something is different about me and my dad has autism traits, my dad's sister is autistic, she never had the mindset to think about it and bring me to a professional. But when our situation got better we could focus on that and i got my diagnosis very late. Because of all these i always struggled at school. My worst times has past in school because almost everyone bullied me i've been beaten and many other awful things. Now i am at university, noone is bullying me, teachers are understanding. I never had this environment before. However, all of my friends think i am extremely weird, poker face, robot, alien, they don't invite me anywhere because they think i hate spending time with them. i get really nervous at social situations and i probably wouldn't go when they invite me somewhere(because there are always people i don't know) but it hurts my feelings. And another thing is that people that like weird people want to be friends with me and because i can't be so close and friendly with them they get upset. One of them cried in front of me and i didn't know what to do. I don't understand people because if i were blind i wouldn't try to hide it so when i didn't notice someone's new hair they wouldn't get offended. It is similar i guess. I don't know what to do or how to feel.
Sorry you're going through all that turmoil. I'm glad to see you've been able to get some accommodations at school. It really depends on the friend, and it's up to you to make the judgement about whether or not your friends would be accepting. However, if your friends suddenly don't like you or don't want to spend time with you on the grounds of being Autistic, then they're not exactly friends.
_________________
144/200 ND
58/200 NT
High school student with Autism and ADHD.
Diagnosed 3/22/18.
Special Interest: The Beatles
Do you know how the students usually treat others with disabilities? Are they mostly kind, mean, indifferent?
It might help others understand you better if they knew why you didn't always "fit the mold".
Or it might give them something else to give you grief about. And for some it won't make a difference either way. If you disclose, you probably will get to see which are the better students more worth your time.
Sorry there's no definite answer...
Rather than give them a label to beat you with (the mean ones will use it) explain (when appropriate) specific things you have problems with when it's appropriate to the moment. For example "I'm not much good at... , it's not one of my strengths". However this is only for use with people who have good will toward you.
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