12 Years Ago This Teen Was Diagnosed With Autism And She’s Telling The Internet Her Parents Never Told Her
A 16-year-old teen was diagnosed with Autism back when she was 4-years-old, but her parents went 12 whole years without telling her.
She only found out because she began dating a 15-year-old boy with Autism, and she decided to research Autism some more so she could better understand him.
“The more I researched it, the more I realized I seemed autistic myself,” she explained.
“I decided to tell my parents, saying I suspect I’m autistic and I’d like to get tested if that was ok with them.”
“Turns out, I was diagnosed when I was 4 and it was constantly written off by my parents as me being “special”. I was really, really pissed with my parents for not telling me.”
“They said they didn’t want me to think I was too different and/or a freak.”
She has been having such a hard time in school and she believes her diagnosis is completely the reason why.
She then brought this up to her mom and dad and asked them to do what they could to make sure she gets some assistance in school moving forward to make things less difficult for her.
Her dad replied that she really didn’t need help and it would be taking resources away from someone who was truly in need if they got her any kind of help.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
She got very upset about that and yelled that she wished they had been more honest with her about everything. She also called them “secretive jerks” and got grounded for it.
Here’s what the internet had to say.
“It’s actually super common for parents with autistic children to just pretend like the diagnosis isn’t there.”
“Because of their own pre-existing stigma, they’re in denial and you’re being stuck with the consequences.”
“Go public. Call your family doctor and tell them. Talk to your school counselor. Call other family members, post it on social media.”
“You need to light a fire under their arses, this is so unacceptable. Can’t imagine your anger at the injustice I’m so angry myself right now. They can’t deny it if everyone knows.”
“I also have ASD and I wasn’t told until age 11 because my parents didn’t think I would understand at any earlier age.”
“However, they still took me to various therapies and got me an IEP for school. They wanted to treat me like other children, so they still put me in a bunch of activities and forced me to socialize with other kids as much as possible, but they still also recognized when I needed help and got it for me when I needed it.”
“Your parents are so wrong for essentially denying your diagnosis and just allowing you to struggle as you have.”
“I hope you show them some of these comments. Maybe it might knock some sense into them.”
“You’re allowed to be so angry with them. Not only did they keep your diagnosis from you, they also totally ignored your medical needs.”
“Was it life-threatening probably not, but the fact they didn’t get you help in school when they knew it would be something you needed… had you known would you have felt different or a freak?”
“Maybe, but would they have told you & gotten you help you most likely wouldn’t have struggled that much. I feel like they must write you off as difficult or a problem child ignoring your diagnosis.”
“I’m so sorry you weren’t given the proper accommodations that you needed and deserved. I hope you continue to advocate for your needs & that you don’t view yourself in a negative light due to this diagnosis.”
“Being “inconvenient” due to your needs is not a good enough excuse for them to watch you struggle so much. How parents could watch their child suffer & dread something they easily could fix is beyond me. I’m rooting for you ”
“Unbelievably common and totally unhelpful. I have three kids in my class this year who I am absolutely certain are on the spectrum.”
“One was finally diagnosed just recently at 11yo as a result of school intervention and the other two parents are in total denial. Years of early intervention and social skills teaching missed, for what?”
“To protect the parent’s egos, or because ‘uncle Bob was a bit different and he’s fine’. It’s unfair and unnecessary.”
You can read the rest of what the internet had to say here.
More About:Uncategorized