Being seen as vulnerable?

Post Reply New Topic

Hi, awhile back I posted something about how I'm often babied and I think one user or perhaps several thought it was teasing. However recently it was suggested to me by a friend that I seem very vulnerable and come across as someone who needs to be protected. While I found it very funny to hear, it wasn't the first time I had been told that by a friend and it fits in with a lot of my life experiences. I also think I heard somewhere that autistic people can seem more innocent to others so I was just curious if anyone else had been told this about themselves or found that this correlated with how they are treated i everyday life?

From my experience I find that people my age tend to censor themselves when they talk to me and in the past experienced classmates being weirdly protective if someone upset me. I know it can be normal to have people come to your defence, but I didn't have many friends and just, having seen how they reacted with others, I could just tell the reaction wasn't necessarily normal. Of course on top that I am literally told I seem that way occasionally and apparently my resting face looks a little afraid which I can't help because I can't even tell, let alone change it. Oh well, it has upsides and downsides and is also a little funny.

Anyway I was just curious to see if anyone related. I'm so happy I have a place like this where I can ask others like me : )

How tall are you and (if post 25) how many wrinkles do you have?

Aspies often look young for our age due to not eating much in childhood (sensory sensitivities) which makes us short and skinny and not using facial expressions in our adult life which makes us wrinkle free.

This being an autism site, I will have to point out the obvious which is that this isn't everyone.

I'm better than twice 25 years old and as recently as last year people guessed me as being in my 30s even though mustache and goatee are grey.

(but then my 8th grade history teacher who was also one of the school's coaches was known to have his hair turn grey at 17)

And yes, even at this age there are occasions where people have acted toward me like I was a bit on the innocent and vulnerable side.

Odd, quite odd.

Your avatar looks very vulnerable with those huge, infant-like eyes.

That used to happen to me a lot too. I used to wonder why people felt comfortable unburdening themselves to me (but no one was ever available to listen to me.)

Perhaps it was some aspie like innocence.

I imagine that I must seem very vulnerable to people at times. I'm short, I have a big belly, I wear high grade pull-ups and sometimes I wear my self-made German helmet. I guess that all those things would give me an adorable and vulnerable appearance.

I am often treated this way, in my case probably because it’s obvious to most people that I have some sort of developmental disability, I can’t “mask” to save my life. I tend to be treated more like a child and have had other females my age try to “mother” me. It’s funny because I’m basically the opposite of vulnerable and innocent (though I fully admit I’m very naive).

People don’t tell me secrets or anything, but they will talk to each other as if I’m not there, for example sharing very personal experiences with their friends when I’m right next to them and they’ve never spoken more than ten words to me. Either they trust me not to gossip, or they just plain forget I’m there.