None. No one. And only one tries to understand but doesn’t quite get it, but, damn, I respect & appreciate her for trying.

Most just tell me to “try harder [to be normal]” and I want to fucking scream.

Being misunderstood with no attempt to even try to understand causes me to pull away from people. Fuck 'em.

three i think, with one making an attempt recently. got a sister who appears to get it but we’re not really close. two friends. one who’s kid got diagnosed a couple years after mine, then got herself diagnosed. the other recently went from “haha yeah im totally weird enough to be autistic haha” to “well shit”. after a conversation we had where a whole bunch of experiances she’s had dismissed by others, were also things i experiance. and my ex appears to be making an honest effort recently in an ateempt to connect with our son. fewer lazy cliche phrases, more pauses and thoughtful interactions from her to him. thats been really nice to see.

Have only told 2 people, they don’t seem to really understand it however

My husband understands, although it was mildly annoying when my primary doctor said (paraphrased) “oh they’re (me and twin) are on the spectrum” and he laughed so hard before “yeah, yeah that tracks and makes sense now” like wow husband! Rude. (I love him and he was right though, everything made sense)

I guess my twin understands but we both have slightly different manifestations and sometimes get feral with each other because of it.

I live in Lincolnshire and the local authority has an autism hub, where they promote a variety of social activities just for neuro divergent folks, perhaps your own council does something similar? Haven’t signed up for any yet, just need a nudge. Think we need to form our own societies, I’ve seen my daughter’s neuroverse group at York university and it works so much better when everyone is autistic and no neuro typicals are involved, judging and misunderstanding.

In my case… Ironically, almost everyone I know (which is not many). And not just the -tism, but all the other quirks I learned about myself from evaluations

My parents were literally involved with my psych tests and know everything. Despite them growing up in a culture that didn’t even believe depression is real, they’ve been incredibly kind and understanding

Most of my (now former) coworkers know. Half of them are understanding, the other half… I think they either don’t believe me or don’t have a grasp of the weight of the situation

I guess I try my best to not mask in order to alleviate some mental stress so there’s that…

Maybe 4… and by understand, I mean they have experienced my highs when I have something in my life to temporarily hyperfixate over that brings me so much joy - but also my incredible lows during burnout periods. They’ve been caught in my emotional storms and have continued to be there when I eventually even out (sometimes many months later). They understand I can be highly emotional and prone to crumbling under sadness and stress.

The other people in my life know I’m on the spectrum, but I don’t think they necessarily get it.

I would say the biggest difference I notice is communication. I tend to need full honesty and full commitment. I’m super incompatible with people who think small lies are better than uncomfortable and honest conversations or who make plans and don’t follow through with them.

Only people either roughly as autistic as me, or affected more severely.

Everyone else feels like talking to a wall.

Zero