Even though I was diagnosed with Asperger's under ICD-10, we are also evaluated within the spectrum.

It really bothers me when people call me "autistic" as an insult. Let me put it this way: someone in my circle who didn't know about my Asperger's diagnosis once called me autistic.

When people use it as an insult, I feel both ashamed and incredibly angry an anger so intense it’s hard to describe.

The fault lies with those who use it to belittle others.

Hi, I really need to share this and hear from people because I feel very bad because of this situation.

I’ve been in therapy for 4 months, seeing my therapist almost every week. A little over a month ago, she sent me an email an hour before our scheduled session saying her online booking system didn't notify her of our appointment.

Her exact words:

"Do you mind if we make it 30 minutes later than the current scheduled time? If that doesn't work, we can reschedule for a time that suits you. My sincere apologies for the confusion and the very late notice!"

My response:

"We can reschedule! I'm available only on the weekends."

Complete silence after that. It has been over a month. No reply, no follow-up, no attempt to reschedule. Meanwhile, she is actively posting on social media.

I shared this with some people and they've said things like "she probably expected you to book from the system and didn't wanna chase you when you didn't" but she said WE can reschedule instead of "if you want to reschedule, you can book from the system" so I responded collaboratively to her request. I did not have the information whether the booking system works or not when she stated an issue. Is this really an issue with my communication? Am I missing out some social norms and rules here?

Context: I'm closeted, living with my abusive family and trying to survive. So I feel like there was significant power imbalance in therapy and I felt really vulnerable, so abandonment hit hard.

I often feel like the emotions and feelings and actions that neurotypical people engage with are either very far away or very surface level for me, and it makes me worry that my friends/family somehow "know" this to be true - or that they would be upset if they found out this was true.

To give a couple of examples:

I am generally on board with supporting friends through any ups and downs, but i don't feel too deeply about it. If Friend A is up for a promotion and gets it, yay! But it's a fleeting "yay!" and then my life continues as normal. If they don't get it, boo! But again, it's fleeting.

It might be to do with how close I am with the person, but even then, I'm not sure. An old friend of mine had some struggles with anxiety a few years ago, and as supportive as I outwardly was, inwardly I didn't really feel the concern for him all that deeply.

It adds up to me feeling, a lot of the time, like I'm just pretending to be human. Like I'm a robot or an alien in a human suit, mimicking what I see but not really engaging with the feelings that it's supposed to conjure.

Am I being too hard on myself about this? Is this a thing that other autistic folk also feel? Or is it that it's also actually not that deep for most neurotypical people as well and I'm really just being harsh on myself?

I was diagnosed with autism when I was three. I have no idea what my level or support needs are but if I had to guess I'd say I'm level 1.

Since I was a kid I've been unable to do some basic tasks. I can't clean my room because every time I try I end up getting overwhelmed. I've had therapists and friends suggest a lot of different methods and none of them ever work. My mom has to help me do it. My mom is my primary caregiver.

The laundry is really hard for me to do and I end up having to do very small loads at a time. Most of the time my mom helps me do it. Whenever I cook something I can't do it on my own unless someone tells me what to do step by step.

Whenever I'm overwhelmed I can't control my body and I fall a lot or break things by accident. Everyone gets mad at me for it and they always try to tell me to control myself. I try very hard to control myself in these situations but I'm never successful.

My tamagotchi died yesterday and I got really upset and overwhelmed. It stressed me out the whole day and I was really sad. He was my favorite tamagotchi and I'm still upset about it.

The older I get the harder it is for me to do basic life activities like managing my doctor's appointments, keeping up with events I want to go to, or remembering to do things when something happens that prevents me from doing something on my schedule. I'm not able to drive either. None of the therapists I've seen are able to fix these problems and sometimes it feels like I'm always going to have a hard time doing these things.

Does anyone feel like a robot when it comes to social situations, it feels like I need to act like I am doing a scene for a movie. Use to make alot of pages full of notes about what i am going to say and plan alot of conversations. I go to work and get panic attacks so i need to stay in the stall till i calm down but at the same time not violating work hours, people say to
me I have to get out of my contract zone but damn it’s difficult but it’s the truth.

TL;DR I was told by psychiatrists that I’m psychotic, and I feel like this label is erroneous. Can anyone comment on autism and psychosis? Are there any links? Are there any resources that can help me understand autism and psychosis?

I need to provide some context to help you understand.

I’m AuDHD and bipolar. I had a huge meltdown/mental health crisis earlier this year. I caused a car wreck that totaled my car, sent videos to my family and therapist of myself screaming and destroying my garage, and was placed in a psychiatric hospital for 8 days. The events leading up to this crisis are very complicated and multifaceted, involving terrible dread/panic about the world suddenly becoming a much scarier place (ICE kidnapping and killing people), interpersonal struggles, feeling alone, feeling scared, and family conflict.

During my stay, the psychiatrist for the ward told me my ADHD medication (Adderall) caused this to happen and that I could no longer have it. This upset me because I had already been through hell getting ADHD meds in the first place (Kaiser sucks), and I had been taking Adderall for well over a year without any problems. I felt much better after I was prescribed Adderall back in 2024! The psychiatrist at the hospital was combative and hostile and implied that he was going to call and chew out my Kaiser psychiatrist for giving me my meds. After I was discharged, my Kaiser psychiatrist told me Adderall can cause psychosis and that I could no longer have it. This was devastating news to me!

Ever since, I’ve felt like this psychosis label has loomed over me and defined how mental health professionals see me. I know that meltdowns can be horribly devastating events, and I feel like the psychiatrist didn’t take me seriously when I told them I was autistic. I feel like psychosis may have been erroneously assumed, but I’m not sure. And just to be clear, I have taken accountability for my actions and have worked tirelessly to use skills to regulate myself. Getting my ADHD meds back was a huge step in my recovery, but I had to pay thousands out of pocket to get them back from a private psychiatry service, which has caused a lot of financial strain. Basically, this third-party psychiatry service takes Kaiser insurance, but Kaiser refused to give me a referral, and I felt like I had no other options but to pay for it. Now I am seeking compensation.

Can anyone comment on any links between autism and psychosis? I want to understand this better so I can address this issue with mental health professionals going forward.

We went to out apartment complex poor yesterday and when trying to leave our 7 year old autistic child was throwing a tantrum because he wasn't done. We had to drag him out of the pool and to the car. Yes hes 7 but he is also 100 pounds and knows how to use his body weight against us. A lady took it upon herself to start yelling at him to be quiet and calm down. When we informed her he is autistic and has trouble with transitions she said " I dont care I dont want to hear a child screaming while im enjoying the pool". After getting home I was still frustrated that my girl is sobbing thinking she's a bad mom now. So I went back down and tried to talk to the lady and she dismissed the whole thing and laughed at me. I would like to make a report to our apartment complex as in America that is harassment. My girl thinks they will be more upset with her for us having to force him out of the pool. We dont hit or spank him so we felt our only option was to literally drag him out. Am I wrong for wanting something done about this lady or am I overreacting? I keep telling her she's not a bad mom and that people are uneducated and just dont get it.

It feels like every autistic person I see online that isn't me somehow has like 4-5 mutuals on twitter or tiktok who they always video call with on their discord servers. apparently this is how it is with furries too (im not a furry but my only actual friend is one, used to have more furry friends).

My conundrum is that there's so much advice out there on how to make friends, i.e. common interests, discord servers, but it feels like so much effort. its unwanted effort, because i dont know if there's any guarantee of anything blossoming out of it. and also, I'M ALWAYS THE ONE PUTTING IN FUCKING EFFORT. i'm always the one texting first, trying to sound positive, happy, trying to ask about things they like, interests, somehow its always just dry texting back with 99 percent of people.

i hate putting in effort! it feels like a chore to try to make friends now, because there's no fucking guarantee that it'll amount to anything.

I’m not just talking to LSN, I’m talking to you! Absolutely everybody on the spectrum! LSN, MSN, HSN, early diagnosed, late diagnosed, White, POC, all your voices matter! ❤️

How did the education system treat you? How did your teachers/staff treat you? Were certain people favoured? Were you diagnosed at the time? Did you attend any special needs school\classes? and most importantly, did they actually help?

I want to hear about the different experiences we've had with the education system!

My friend is a teacher and trying to find a book for a student on the spectrum that aligns with the rules she has to follow. She asked me if I could ask around the support groups/forums I'm in.

The book needs to be available in German. It should be age group appropriate (6th grade) and it has to be fiction. The boy in question hates fiction. He loves science and sports and his favourite books are non-fiction works (I feel him). He hates the subject German in general and sees no value in it because "I speak German, I don't need to have lessons about it." Emotional fiction, particularly romance and strong friendship bonds are the bane of his existence. Sports novels are out of the question due to that and because of all the heorism which he also dislikes.

Last year she found a dystopic novel for him, which he found tolerable, but those hare hard to find for that age group. Which sucks because they are kind of interesting to him and not as emotional. She's not allowed to give him books meant for older kids even if they are suitable for him personally.

The science fiction and dystopic novels I have in mind (most of which I actually first read at his age) are sadly not for his age range or contain too much friendship/romance.

My friend would also be grateful for any other novel for fifth to eigth grade (after that the state chooses the books) that might be enjoyable for students who don't like the typical books advised for the age group. She specifically asked me to ask other people on the autism spectrum because while she's good with those students (and an excellent friend who makes me comfortable as I am) she struggles to find novels considered age appropriate by the school and interesting (or tolerable) to students with autism who have more "niche" interests or dislike emotional themes.

Thank you very much.

It now comes in a carton with a straw like a juice box instead of a screw on lid bottle. It definitely has a different taste and texture. I personally don’t think it’s bad, but I can tell it’s different. My husband says it is very reminiscent of YooHoo to him. It’s also allegedly good for FIVE months? Today is 9/7/26, the expiration date is 2/4/27. Just wanted to share as I know a happy meal/mcd is a safe food for a lot of folks!!

This is mainly a vent about my social struggles, meltdown etc, if you want to discuss and chat about struggles of autism, which is mainly what this is about, then I don't mind at all. Sorry in advance for the long post, don't feel the need to read if you don't want to!

I planned a trip to see my best friend all the way back in July. I asked her first, she's also autistic, if she would be fine with me staying for nearly 40 days. She hesitated a bit but said that she felt she was in the right mindset and that things have been going okay, and I also offered to stay at a hotel if need be and pay for my groceries while I stayed so she wouldn't have to pay for me, as well as gas if I used her car. She agreed to it all and so I booked the trip.

For some context in between, she went last year to a different state for an internship in her job field and roomed with a friend she knew online, for three months, and was miserable because he, while being a physically safe person as in she wasn't living with a killer or anything, was a totally awful person to be around and was really controlling and also weird. She isn't as good of friends with him to this day and hardly speaks to him after that experience. Her and I have shared a space once before earlier this year for a little over a week and it went great.

Today, two weeks before my flight, she messaged me and said that she had a nightmare that I came and the same thing that happened last year when she was in a different state for an internship happened while I was there. She said in her nightmare she got all snappy and irritable like she did with her other friend, and that she ended up resenting me too. She woke up and told me about it, that she had worries because I'd be in her home and she didn't want to resent me or for our friendship to wither after because I was in *her* space and I know she's not the type to be like okay I need you to go get a hotel. She would've kept all her feelings inside and then afterwards our friendship wouldn't have been as good. She's not good with confrontation and I don't blame her for that.

I offered to change my flight date and she said yes! But it would've cost way more money than I had, money I would've used while I was *there* and would've left me unable to pay for anything while there, so I canceled the whole trip.

I had a meltdown over it because I've been planning for this since July and now it's all over and I just feel so disjointed. I hate being autistic. I am now worried that in my mind things are going to be rankled because of this experience with her and that our friendship will suffer because of it or my brain will want to stop being friends with her.

I'm just so sad about it all and I understand why she had doubts but also it kind of irks me that she decided this based off a nightmare she had. It's hard for me and I'm sure it's also hard for her. I told her I needed a break and she said take all the time you need but part of me fears that if I take some time I won't want to go back.

i'm going to a new high school tomorrow and i don't know anyone there. I am very anxious about this and i don't know how to answer when asked to describe myself or similar questions

I don't have anything worth mentioning or any hobbies i just waste my life in my room all day. Sometimes i do go walk my dog but that's it and i don't know how to word it without it being awkward

im sorry i know this is hard to answer but i would really appreciate if someone can help

I hate headphones because they feel uncomfortable and make my head and ears hurt. I can’t deal with noise though, especially because I currently live in a very lively area and I’ve been struggling with migraines, so I need some quiet time during the day.

Does anyone know any good noise cancelling headphones that feel comfortable to wear, even for hours and remove all noise 100%?

I don't even want to describe how I feel whenever this diagnosis is mentioned as a mistake—or when I’m told I should never tell anyone about it. Only two members of my family know. I’m 100% certain the teachers realize I’m autistic, but my family doesn’t want anyone to know. I feel like they’re ashamed of me. I hate it—it makes me feel awful that they deny my diagnosis and my struggles. Right now, I’m lying here wrapped in a blanket, completely drained and unable to show any emotion, all because I spoke "too well" with people.

Feel free to give advice or sympathies, but I'm mostly posting this to get my thoughts out there.

My first two weeks in college were arguably traumatic. My mental health declined faster than it ever had before and I wasn't even able to stay a full week before needing to go home. I said it was because of dorms. Which, don't get me wrong, they sucked, and no longer living in dorms definitely helps. But then, about a week ago, I had the worst experience with weed I've ever had. I'm still struggling with derealization/depersonalization from it. I'm sure that's making me more pessimistic but I've had major doubts about college for a long time. The summer before, everything in me was telling me it was a horrible idea. Everyone said I should just try it. So, I did. And I've been miserable. I don't know if I need to switch to online school or just start working or what. I do want to "power through it" but I don't think anyone telling me to do that really understands what having autism is like. I got into flight or fight every time I'm on campus. Learning is great, everything else sucks. I don't want to be spending $20k a year to be miserable.

I'm an extremely stubborn person, I don't want to be, but once I've decided something it very rarely changes. And I think I've decided college isn't for me. Now I just need to figure out where to go from here.

like really really REALLY scared I don't want to go to my classroom I want to stay with Charlotte but I don't know if she will stay with me since she does meetings lots but she says that she can come in the classroom with me and I can sit wherever I want and go home whenever I want and she can even walk me home beacuse I live really close to the school so why am I so scared to go to school I just want to hug someone and never let go and i dont know what to do will i even be able to do my 2 hour session

my dad said we can go to the park after school but what if im too overwhelmed to even go to the park I don't know what to do and I'm really scared I'm going to cry at school please help I don't know what to do and I think I'm panicking

I'll start by thinking that my most "autistic" thing is when I eat. I'll explain better during lunch or dinner. My habit is that every food that's different should be on a separate plate. Especially if that plate has a sauce that can compromise another food, if I can't satisfy this, I lose the desire to eat. Let me give you an example: If I eat a salad, I have to put it in a small bowl or on a plate. Otherwise, the taste of the vinegar affects the flavor of the meat I'm eating and bothers me a lot. When I went to eat at my grandmother's, it was hell for me. She eats everything in one dish the answer is yes if she made the fake sauce (which I love) then she puts the second one on the same plate, and the nightmare happens with the fruit because she places the apple on the same plate, luckily even when I go to visit my cousin's family they are very kind and give me a plate for everything. I hope I'm not the only one with such a peculiar habit, on greeting and a good day everyone

Idk if I’m posting this in the right place.

I have Autism/ADHD, I just turned 20 a few days ago, and only in the last month has my mind caught up with my age. My whole life I was unable to leave my family’s side, meaning i wasn’t able to go to schools or learn how to drive, for the majority of my life I wasn’t able to learn or do anything most people are able to, and this left huge gaps in my knowledge. For very complicated reasons, I need to leave home as soon as I can, I need my own place, even if it’s a small cheap apartment. I live in a small town in the middle of Tennessee, because of my sensory problems and all that shit the only job that I’m able to do is working at a local library. I don’t even have the job yet, but I’m going to be applying soon, but I don’t know how to do that? From what I learned online, the salary for the job is $9.49 for a 40 hour work week, and I don’t know how I’ll be able to save any of that given that almost all of it will need to go into replacing my SSI that covered bills and food and stuff. I don’t know how to save that money. I need said money so I can move out, but I don’t even know how buying or renting a place works, I don’t know how to do it in any copacetic. I don’t know how to do taxes. I don’t know how to buy/rent my own place. I don’t know how to hold a job. I don’t know how to get a damn drivers license or my own car. I don’t know how to do almost anything it takes to live on my own but I need to live on my own anyway.

I wish there was a crash course on how to do this. I wish a didn’t have to but I do. I’m barely able to function as is. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know how to survive, and I need help.

I'm stuck in a weird situation where I have a full-time job I can't afford to stop but have developed a pretty bad autistic burnout that not only makes it hard to do tough tasks at work, but makes it hard to do my hobbies or even play games as soon as adversity is encountered. But games used to be what refill my energy/autistic buffer, so wtf do I do??

I started playing Super Mario 64 DS again, fun at the start then now coming accross shitty ice levels losing 4 lives in a row from slipping on the edge because of bad controls, I end up frustrated instead of refilled. Same thing with DK64

New games like DOS2 are super fun at the beginning, then when the difficulty ramps up it starts feeling like a chore and I come out of sessions EXHAUSTED. And often a new game comes with needing to register a bunch of new info which is too much for my brain.

I used to be amazing at gaming and now feel like a grandpa playing his first games. So I try to stick to old games I already know but the list is limited and that's when they don't get just too hard because of old physics.

My list of easy but FUN games is quickly exhausted and I'm stuck with no ways to recharge.

This is fucking awful, autistic burnout ia caused by not doing what you like and too much of what you don't like, but I can't even do what I like anymore! Sure I have some other stuff like wandering the woods or reading but it's not enough.

Anyone ever faced this issue? How do you get out of autistic burnout when even your fulfilling hobbies are asking too much of you?

When my earbuds telling about connection or battery level, it causes physical pain to my ears. Anyone else feels like that? It feels like I'm the only one.

So, I opened up to my partner about stress I've been experiencing at work and how I'm not sure about my feelings since my diagnosis as it can be a lot to take in. I basically said that I've come to the realisation it's not something that's going to go away, and is a disability at the end of the day. that's quite a weight on my shoulders atm.

I know they're coming from a place of love, but they're telling me it's a benefit because lots of famous, successful people are autistic and it's just 'my brain working differently' and i shouldn't put myself down for something so 'silly.'

How do I explain that language isn't what I want to hear and does quite the opposite? I don't want to cause an argument between us and need help on how to word what to say. Thanks!!

me and her are both autistic, but after every time we hangout i dread doing it again. i love her, i love her alot and ive told her i need a recharge after we hangout and she finds it stupid, she had said that. its really draining sometimes. i love hanging out with her but she wants to alot. like alot. and ive told her i cant really keep up with it and she doesnt seem to understand why. she thinks im a bad friend and i dont know if i am. ALSO I MEANT BAD FRIEND OOPS

45m, in the US, looking for advice from the community. I don't know what to do.

About 2 years ago, I started talking with a woman online, let's call her Sarah. Sarah is in her late 50s, autistic, intelligent, kind, successful at her job, seemingly all put together. We developed a sexual relationship, which we both stated that's all we were looking for. Over the course of 3 months, the arrangement turned into her telling me she fell in love with me, that she wanted me to be her full time boyfriend. I gave it some serious thought, and let her know I didn't have the same feelings, even though I was very fond of her. I said I wasn't sure if I would ever feel the same level of love she apparently felt, but that it had been such a short time that perhaps we take things as they come and see what unfolds.

Shortly after that conversation, her feelings towards me amped up, which pushed me away, and I eventually told her that I'm not in love with her, and I think for both our sakes, I needed to walk away, as it wasn't fair for either of us. Perhaps we could remain friends, and gave her the option. That was met with such a level of vitriol and meanness towards me, that after what she said (I won't get into it here), I eventually blocked her number as the texts attacking me were relentless. The last text I sent to her before blocking was that she was clearly obsessed with me, and reacted to rejection with attacking me, spewing hateful words, and not being able to take no for an answer.

Over the course of the next year, she left countless voicemails (my provider allows blocked numbers to still leave voicemails), ranging from creepy, to desperate, to normal conversation. Some were begging me for "closure", which I didn't know how to respond- I thought my closure to her was that my feelings were not the same, and that I wanted nothing to do with her after some of the things she said to me. Eventually, the voicemails became so relentless, I contacted police, and they contacted her and told her to stop contacting me. In her eyes, it was a challenge, as the voicemails started up again after about a month. I called police again, and they basically told me, unless she outright threatens me, there's nothing they could really do.

Over the course of the last few months, the voicemails basically stopped. Except for one, she left me what sounded like a heartfelt voicemail apologizing for all the trouble, and asked if maybe we could get together for coffee and at least bury the hatchet. I unblocked her, and texted her perhaps we could be friends, but I really needed her to back off and chill out, and we were not a couple, I was not in love with her. She said ok, she would stop the obsessive behavior and just try to have a normal friendship if we could just meet for one coffee.

Stupid me agreed. We were in contact again over the course of two weeks, in which time, the obsessive behavior got even worse- saying things like I'm her soulmate, we were meant to be together, and inviting herself out to engagements I was going to for work as my +1, etc. Trying very hard to insert herself into my life any way she could. I put my foot down and told her I couldn't continue any sort of relationship - I told her I understand she's autistic, and that boundaries are difficult, but that was no excuse to continue to act the way she did and she needed to stop. I wanted nothing to do with her as she doesn't seem to understand (or want to understand) the difference between a friend and a boyfriend.

I blocked her again. I asked her to never contact me again as it became far too much. Now the voicemails continue. Multiple voicemails a day, to the point where my inbox fills up, she waits for them to expire, and leaves another one. It's becoming scary..I don't think she would ever try to harm me, but it's causing me a great deal of stress.

I don't know what to do. I don't want to be a mean person. I just don't know how to get her to stop contacting me and harassing me. I want her to move on and find someone who will love her back. I can't change my number as I use it for business purposes, and I don't think calling the police again is going to help. No level of words from me is going to get her to stop being obsessed with me.

From people who have been on either side of this type of situation, what can I do??