Autism

2 lurkers | 90 watchers

fetcheveryone Mar 2023 2:11pm, 16 Mar 2023 28,871 posts	0 fetcheveryone I've been asked to look at the recent chat on the thread - in particular to the masking issue. I admit that I know less than I should about autism, but some reading this afternoon suggests that masking can be both conscious and unconscious and everything in between. Jelly describes her personal view on conscious masking, and how she tries to avoid it so as to give an honest portrayal of herself. And RooA talks about how masking for her is predominantly unconscious and how she finds it very difficult to deal with when it is in play for long periods of time. As a lay person, it seems logically consistent that one can talk about personal feelings of dishonesty when it comes to conscious masking; and not so when it comes to unconscious masking. I do hope that the thread will continue to encourage and support people who live with autism, and that it does this through respect for each other. I will add it to my watch list, and hopefully learn more.
jelly Mar 2023 2:17pm, 16 Mar 2023 4,883 posts	0 jelly RooA and anyone else I may have ‘upset’ with my comment. Massive apologies, it was never my intention to call anyone else dishonest, just me. I’m so sorry that I’ve upset anyone. There’s always a risk of saying the wrong thing, when you’re autistic, it’s been with me my whole life. I don’t see it unless it’s pointed out and then I’ll be devastated for a long time and I am really sad to have stumbled around and done what I’ve done. I’m not even saying I don’t mask at all, even non autistics mask, that’s why life is so bloody confusing. Anyway I probably won’t say anything else because I don’t really want to upset anyone here on fetch. It’s my favourite place on the Internet and I can’t bear the thought that I’ve damaged that.
Raemond Mar 2023 2:24pm, 16 Mar 2023 10,231 posts	0 Raemond We love you jelly, I hope you will feel safe and welcome in the thread again soon, your input is valued!
1step2far Mar 2023 2:34pm, 16 Mar 2023 7,357 posts	0 1step2far Jelly please stay. You have not damaged that at all. You are entitled to say what you want-. It is your lived experience of ASD. Others can of course disagree, and explain tgeir experiences but shouldn't throw abuse at another Fetchie and the abuse you've experienced has upset me too
DeeGee Mar 2023 2:39pm, 16 Mar 2023 22,496 posts	0 DeeGee I'm watching this thread with interest at the moment. A female friend has been watching Chris Packham's programmes recently, and says something kind of clicked. She's trying to find out if she may be autistic. She had a one-on-one advice session recently, with a stranger, over Teams (which, obviously, she really didn't enjoy - it left her quite anxious), and she's been given the phone number of the autism service and told that it's a very long waiting list. So she's no closer to finding out.
Flatlander Mar 2023 2:42pm, 16 Mar 2023 2,735 posts	0 Flatlander jelly, I read your earlier comment as being about yourself, so there was no offence taken by me. As is drummed into us "no two autistics are the same" so not surprising we have different experiences and ways of dealing with things - even though they can be very similar that doesn't mean they are exactly the same.
swittle Mar 2023 2:51pm, 16 Mar 2023 95,720 posts	0 swittle Fetchies: as it was my post (p. 128, post no. 95706) about the BBC 1 programme, 'Christine McGuiness: Unmasking My Autism,' broadcast last night that seems to have raised masking as an area of interest, I thought I'd post a link to this article on the National Autistic Society website by Dr Hannah Belcher. The article is entitled 'Autistic people and masking.' autism.org.uk Dr Belcher's own website is here: hannahbelcher.com
Lizzie Whizz Mar 2023 2:52pm, 16 Mar 2023 27,499 posts	0 Lizzie Whizz Quite a few of our (GP surgery) patients are going down this route: psychiatry-uk.com I think it's online consultation but waiting list has been acceptable.
Fragile Do Not Bend Mar 2023 3:17pm, 16 Mar 2023 10,845 posts	0 Fragile Do Not Bend However, I was recently temporarily promoted to lead my team while my manager heads off for a second baby, and in two short weeks have managed to enrage two team members with what I felt were rather innocuous messages. Learning very quickly that I need to be very careful how I type my emails to certain people so as not to upset them too much... but I've been clear that direct emails is my style and this won't be changing. In one of my first jobs I was spoken to by my manager for coming across as too abrupt in my emails. I was shocked as I had no idea my writing style was being taken the wrong way, I just naturally strip out all the “unnecessary” stuff when I write. I would make a terrible novelist.
GeneHunt59 Mar 2023 3:20pm, 16 Mar 2023 3,782 posts	0 GeneHunt59 Thanks for posting link Lizzie W. I know of someone who was recently told they would have to wait 30 months, or longer if they stayed on the standard NHS route for an autism assessment, but were offered to be referred to psychiatry-uk as wait would be considerably shorter. On switching they were given an assessment date within 6 weeks. It is indeed an online consultation, lasting I think an hour. There is quite a bit of info on the website you linked.