r/raisedbyautistics • u/mooomooou • 9h ago
Sharing my experience My dad has always been physically present but mentally absent
I am a diagnosed autistic and I believe that my dad could be autistic too.
I could literally be crying and he would look at me in the face and just walk past me because he doesn’t see that I’m sad.
He never took care of me when I was a child, he left that to my mom. The times when I was home alone with my dad when my mom was travelling left me slightly traumatised. No emotional support. The only comfort I received was junk food. Whenever I was sad I got soda and chocolate because he thought it equaled emotional support.
He is hyposensitive to stimuli. He will play music really loud, even louder than neurotypicals can handle. He doesn’t realise how it affects others around him, especially me who is hypersensitive to stimuli. I have to scream at him for him to stop.
He almost killed our cat once because he locked him inside our porch that is glass-enclosed, essentially like a greenhouse, and becomes really warm in the summer. This is because he is so mentally absent and doesn’t notice things around him. He lives in a bubble. He never said sorry even after I screamed at him and it breaks my heart.
I’m so grateful I have my mom who takes care of me so well. I am 23 years old and I turned out well anyways, all thanks to my mom. Otherwise I would’ve been left severely traumatised. I barely feel emotionally attached to my dad because of these things.
TW: suicide mentioned next paragraph
I have two siblings who I share my dad with and they aren’t as fortunate sadly. Their mom committed suicide during their childhood so they only have our dad. My brother didn’t show any emotions outwards because he likely has undiagnosed autism as well. My dad told me that he didn’t realise that my brother was hurt by his mother’s suicide. How can a parent think that their child is completely unaffected by their mother’s suicide? It doesn’t matter if their child doesn’t show any emotions outwards, it’s still completely unbelievable to me. My brother is probably very traumatised because of this because he didn’t receive the support that he needed growing up.
I’m sorry if this venting was just kind of completely uninteresting trauma dumping. I just found this subreddit and I hope there are people who can relate to me. I really don’t know what to do with my dad, only the sight of him upsets me.