Disbelief by a partner that I am autistic

Page 1 of 1 [ 12 posts ] 

kirakirakira
Butterfly
Butterfly

Joined: 20 Aug 2022
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Posts: 12

20 Aug 2023, 5:38 am

Hey, I was recently diagnosed with ASD (for context, I'm F19) and I covered all the test expenses by myself, which I worker really hard for. I never identified myself as autistic without a proper diagnosis before, but now I have it and it feels as if people don't take it seriously, especially my boyfriend. We've been dating for over a year and had lots of issues that can be related to autism, however, when I revealed the diagnosis, he told me that the test is for sure wrong and that I'm making it up, as well as "taking pride in it" (never did, I just don't find it shameful). He said that it's easy to fool the test, and if he tried he would probably be able to be diagnosed for anything. He straight up refuses to learn and it looks like as if to be autistic I need to be just like his nonverbal autistic cousin (he doesn't even know if he has autism for sure). What the hell am I supposed to do? I feel like I'm talking to a wall



TwilightPrincess
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Sep 2016
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 23,605
Location: Hell

20 Aug 2023, 9:42 am

To be honest, this would be a dealbreaker for me. I’d probably break up with him. If he’s invalidating you in this way, he could invalidate your feelings/experience in other ways.

It’s not cool. He should be supportive and at least willing to learn about autism in order to understand your perspective.


_________________
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven — Satan and TwilightPrincess


kirakirakira
Butterfly
Butterfly

Joined: 20 Aug 2022
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Posts: 12

20 Aug 2023, 9:58 am

TwilightPrincess wrote:
To be honest, this would be a dealbreaker for me. I’d probably break up with him. If he’s invalidating you in this way, he could invalidate your feelings/experience in other ways.

It’s not cool. He should be supportive and at least willing to learn about autism in order to understand your perspective.


Honestly, it just makes me feel so stupid. In my home country (post Soviet country) I was struggling a lot because there they dont even believe that girls may indeed be autistic, so after moving to the EU I was looking for all the opportunities to get tested, and I got a job to pay for the whole procedure. I've been waiting for it for a long time and now the person I consider the dearest thinks that it's silly and that I make up things for attention...



TwilightPrincess
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Sep 2016
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 23,605
Location: Hell

20 Aug 2023, 10:09 am

Maybe it’s just an opportunity to see what he’s really like. Maybe he’d be similarly dismissive about other things that are important to you - that are an intrinsic part of who you are. Being dismissive of someone’s personal identity is especially problematic. It’s a huge red flag.

He needs to apologize and demonstrate a willingness to learn in my opinion.

I hope you don’t regret being evaluated. I don’t think your diagnosis is the problem here. He is.


_________________
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven — Satan and TwilightPrincess


DanielW
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Jan 2019
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,873
Location: PNW USA

20 Aug 2023, 10:24 am

Dump him and find someone who gives you the love, respect and TRUST you deserve.



Checkbox
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

Joined: 13 Sep 2020
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 359

20 Aug 2023, 10:47 am

Logic would have been to be supportive of you after the shattering news that is the diagnosis.
The post-diagnosis period (even more so for people who have been diagnosed late) is a decisive period for people's psychological balance, which can make them even more vulnerable.
Now, his reaction is disgusting and it's really not what you need now, let alone later.
Either he agrees to change or you can't continue with him.



funeralxempire
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Oct 2014
Age: 39
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 26,514
Location: Right over your left shoulder

20 Aug 2023, 11:45 am

I'd suggest that you're likely better off without someone like that in your life.


_________________
“Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas, this is part of our strategy” —Netanyahu
戦争ではなく戦争と戦う
GOP Predators


honeytoast
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2020
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,145
Location: 1Q84

20 Aug 2023, 6:45 pm

When I first dated my partner, he made an offhand comment about my diagnosis which upset me greatly. It was our first and only real ""fight"" where I had to explain my POV, how I struggled for years, how I didn't think until after research that I may be autistic, and how learning that I actually am helped me understand myself more than ever. It helped me find ways to bend to society in my own way without feeling weird, and how I can cope. He had a horrible perception of it because he has a cousin who cames is autistic but isn't. She uses it as an excuse to not work or do anything responsible. He wasn't taking me seriously. After I told him everything and told him if he wasn't going to believe me, it was a dealbreaker. We would be done. He apologized greatly and we moved on. (He still feels terrible about what he did) He has made an effort to understand more about me and works with me. He learned that I was not using it as an excuse. I have a disability lol. I relate to you in your efforts to get a diagnosis; it cost me a pretty penny too.

In that case, and I think with the trend of the internet with people who claim they have something but don't, more people are becoming skeptical about who is truly autistic and who is not. We need to educate them of course, but if they won't listen, then we should cut them out of their life. I think there is always going to be a struggle for women who are autistic since so many people don't believe women CAN get autism.

He isn't going to listen and seems like he doesn't want to listen to you. It's time to drop someone like him.


_________________
dear god, dear god, tinkle tinkle hoy.

~~~~

believe in the broken clock and who's side will time be on?


Mikurotoro92
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 30 Aug 2022
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 840
Location: Mushroom Kingdom or Bikini Bottom

20 Aug 2023, 6:56 pm

I believe this is why Anita and other people say that I should get married to an Autistic man instead of a neuro-typical


_________________
"You have never experienced true love but that doesn't mean you won't EVER find it!" -SpongeBob SquarePants


MatchboxVagabond
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 26 Mar 2023
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,387

20 Aug 2023, 7:15 pm

DanielW wrote:
Dump him and find someone who gives you the love, respect and TRUST you deserve.

Yes, because it likely won't improve with additional commitment. I suppose it could, but a bunch of other stuff could happen as well.



Hopper
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Aug 2012
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,920
Location: The outskirts

21 Aug 2023, 9:22 am

This would also be a dealbreaker for me. A sort of curious ignorance of 'but you don't seem autistic' is fine, particularly if one masks, assuming they are open to listen to the how and why of your autism. But outright dismissive and invalidating - no.

I would encourage you to leave him. Should you have needs in the relationship related to being autistic, I can't see that he would be respectful of them.


_________________
Of course, it's probably quite a bit more complicated than that.

You know sometimes, between the dames and the horses, I don't even know why I put my hat on.


Weight Of Memory
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

Joined: 16 Jun 2023
Gender: Male
Posts: 317
Location: Florida

26 Aug 2023, 10:58 pm

He who knows not,
and knows not that he knows not,
is a fool; shun him.