i think my mom is autistic

mug

mug

Mug
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TLDR; in my own journey towards acceptance and diagnosis, I recently realised that my mother is probably autistic.

I always knew she is peculiar and deeply traumatised, but I only recently realised I am autistic (not diagnosed yet) and learning more about that has made me look at her differently as well.

Through those new acquired autistic glasses, I'm looking at my mother, and I suddenly realise her quirkiness is probably just plain autism. She:

  • struggles keeping friends, can be weird in social situations (very direct, to the point of being inappropriate) although she is quite sociable
  • can't empathise, only project
  • can't read the room (often goes on political rants, knowing I have opposite views fore example)
  • info dumps about things I don't care about in the slightest, tells thibns in great detail, even if the details don't matter
  • Had emotional outbursts when I was growing up. As a child she always seemed 'angry' to me and it was scary
  • is quite OCD about how things should be done, what is important, when things need to be done, etc. Growing up with her often felt like I couldn't breathe
  • she has extremely rigid world views, very black and white, and feels strongly about what is wrong and right
  • has weird responses to things! I recently sent a picture of me on holiday, soaked, because I got caught in the rain. She went on talking about how it was raining at home as well and how it would also be raining the next day (never commenting on my photo)
  • often doesn't quite understand what you're talking about, what the point is of what you're saying and gets mad/frustrated, or just goes off on what she thinks you're talking about, it makes it very hard to have a conversation.
I feel partially angry, because I always felt like she wasn't a good mother to me growing up, that she failed to properly emotionally connect to me and my needs, and did more harm than good projecting her and her ideas about what was important onto me, but I also feel bad for her. She is in her 70s, and she's lived her whole life struggling, never knowing that she actually has a disability. I also find it quite difficult, because her autism is so different from mine, if that makes sense? If I do get a formal diagnosis, I think I will voice my suspicions to her. Thoughts?
 
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TLDR; in my own journey towards acceptance and diagnosis, I recently realised that my mother is probably autistic.

I always knew she is peculiar and deeply traumatised, but I only recently realised I am autistic (not diagnosed yet) and learning more about that has made me look at her differently as well.

Through those new acquired autistic glasses, I'm looking at my mother, and I suddenly realise her quirkiness is probably just plain autism. She:

  • struggles keeping friends, can be weird in social situations (very direct, to the point of being inappropriate) although she is quite sociable
  • can't empathise, only project
  • can't read the room (often goes on political rants, knowing I have opposite views fore example)
  • info dumps about things I don't care about in the slightest, tells thibns in great detail, even if the details don't matter
  • Had emotional outbursts when I was growing up. As a child she always seemed 'angry' to me and it was scary
  • is quite OCD about how things should be done, what is important, when things need to be done, etc. Growing up with her often felt like I couldn't breathe
  • she has extremely rigid world views, very black and white, and feels strongly about what is wrong and right
  • has weird responses to things! I recently sent a picture of me on holiday, soaked, because I got caught in the rain. She went on talking about how it was raining at home as well and how it would also be raining the next day (never commenting on my photo)
  • often doesn't quite understand what you're talking about, what the point is of what you're saying and gets mad/frustrated, or just goes off on what she thinks you're talking about, it makes it very hard to have a conversation.
I feel partially angry, because I always felt like she wasn't a good mother to me growing up, that she failed to properly emotionally connect to me and my needs, and did more harm than good projecting her and her ideas about what was important onto me, but I also feel bad for her. She is in her 70s, and she's lived her whole life struggling, never knowing that she actually has a disability. I also find it quite difficult, because her autism is so different from mine, if that makes sense? If I do get a formal diagnosis, I think I will voice my suspicions to her. Thoughts?
everyone has different problems
 
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dnr
 
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still love her
 
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