"Why does autism need to be diagnosed?" and "you shouldn't self diagnose autism" people listen up. Imagine this:
You're 7 feet tall but no one knows it. Everywhere you go, you hit your head and people stare at you. Everyone asks you "why are you like this?" and you don't know. You start to ask yourself too.
Everyday, you're forced to wear the same pants as everyone else, even though they will never fit. It hurts. It hurts that people don't understand you and it hurts that you can't understand yourself. You haven't even been given the language to ask for the accommodations you need.
It seems really strange to you that no one else ever seems upset by the clothes that don't fit and the doorways that are too low. You assume you're just too sensitive to do these things. When you do complain, people just tell you "well everyone hits their head sometimes". They don't know what being 7 feet tall actually feels like. They don't know what the world looks like from where you are and when you try to tell them, either you don't have the words or they don't listen.
You don't know you're 7 feet tall. All you know is "why am I like this?"
Then one day, maybe you meet someone else who is 7 feet tall. You see them at YOUR eye level and gasp, thinking 'this has never happened before! They're like me!' Maybe you talk to them and they mention that they get their pants tailored because they can't find regular pants that fit. You think to yourself 'that's an option??' They say "yeah it's because I'm 7 feet tall." And for the first time, that question isn't 'why am I like this?' but 'is THAT why I'm like this?'
You feel relieved and even overjoyed because things make sense. You finally understand. Or at least you think you do. But when you ask people to accommodate you for being 7 feet tall, they only ask if you've actually been measured. Not many people actually get measured, only people who go to the specific doctors that specialize in measuring.
The problem is those doctors are not only expensive but good standard measurements don't exist yet. Sometimes those doctors can't even reach to 7 feet or the measuring tapes themselves don't go that long. Even the standard for diagnosis is often inaccessible to people who are actually 7 feet tall because the doctor doesn't understand being 7 feet tall either.
Let's say you don't get diagnosed. Everyone denies that you're 7 feet tall for the rest of your life. You become anxious because no one understands you and you don't understand them and you become depressed because everything is so hard it often doesn't feel worth it.
Sure, you *can live* like this but everything is strained. People don't treat you well because they see you as an inconvenience, the job that your coworkers effortlessly work overtime on is exhausting to you and you barely make it to work. And when you get home, you don't do the things you want to do, you just ask yourself 'why am I like this?' and sleep uncomfortably in your bed that is too small for you.
origamiaround
romaincrisis
blakekathryn
ellievsbear
annaxmalina
turnnoffyourmind
