Thank you for writing this! My father is on the autism spectrum. I have spent so much of my life believing that I was inherently broken. A couple of years ago I finally committed to pursuing a career that is important to me - and it has been this wonderful journey of learning to trust myself and believing that my wants and needs are valid. But it's still a struggle. Some days I feel very capable and normal and others I feel torn - like guilty. It's a strange dichotomy of feelings that being the NT daughter of an Aspie stirs up. On the one hand my dad is has this child-like wonder at everything that is endearing and lovable and on the other he has this really short fuse that is ignited by unpredictable things. We're always just supposed to "know" what those things are and made to feel stupid when we do them. There's just so much I'm feeling! So many people belittled and ignored my feelings on the subject that I began to think that maybe I was a bit crazy. Even writing this I wonder, "Am I nuts? My father's fine. I'm the problem." What you've written here really speaks to that self-doubt and helps me understand a little more why I'm so cautious. Thank you!
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Thank you for writing this! My father is on the autism spectrum. I have spent so much of my life believing that I was inherently broken. A couple of years ago I finally committed to pursuing a career that is important to me - and it has been this wonderful journey of learning to trust myself and believing that my wants and needs are valid. But it's still a struggle. Some days I feel very capable and normal and others I feel torn - like guilty. It's a strange dichotomy of feelings that being the NT daughter of an Aspie stirs up. On the one hand my dad is has this child-like wonder at everything that is endearing and lovable and on the other he has this really short fuse that is ignited by unpredictable things. We're always just supposed to "know" what those things are and made to feel stupid when we do them. There's just so much I'm feeling! So many people belittled and ignored my feelings on the subject that I began to think that maybe I was a bit crazy. Even writing this I wonder, "Am I nuts? My father's fine. I'm the problem." What you've written here really speaks to that self-doubt and helps me understand a little more why I'm so cautious. Thank you!
August 2, 2016 - 9:09amThis Comment
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