I "came out" on Facebook...

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Now that I have my diagnosis, I feel comfortable enough with myself to disclose my Dx. In my life, I feel it will benefit my relationships with the people who know me. My room mate knows I'm autistic, but still sometimes misinterprets my behaviors. Being able to talk openly about my autism and how I respond in certain situations has helped her understand me.

I'm hoping that my public disclosure does the same thing, but on a larger scale. So far, I've gotten very positive reactions. Most of my friends are "weird", so, generally, they're pretty accepting of things like this. I haven't gotten any negative reactions yet. I specifically stated that if anyone has any negative personal views of autism, I don't care. I understand my diagnosis better than they can. I know what's going on in my head better than they ever can and that I accept and am relieved by my diagnosis.

I was quite apprehensive about doing this, but now that I have, I'm quite relieved that I did it!

Yay!

I've been pretty open about my Asperger's not long after I started using Facebook. It's even in my "about me" description. I've also found a decent facebook page for women with Asperger's. I've shared some of my cartoon drawings on their page and got a nice amount of likes for them. I've even mentioned I have it on Youtube, mostly as a reply to videos about Asperger's. That last one took a real amount of nerve since there are some people who are complete trolls and think we should should be sent on a rocketship to the sun. Whatever.

I'm contemplating getting some t-shirts.

https://www.google.com/search?q=aspie+t+shirts&tbm=isch

Some people might say, you're not really autistic. People have said that to me.

I think a brief, matter-of-fact response, maybe say that autism is a spectrum. Keep it brief, don't get involved in a debate. This has sometimes worked for me.

(nothing always works because people are so complex, myself fully included)

I didn't get many responses. People probably doubt that I have it. Not surprising because with stuttering and anxiety I talked very little. Which means some traits wouldn't have been too obvious. It's not like I'd talk for hours on end about my special interests. In my head I would but they didn't normally hear it.

I'd be lying to say it wasn't disappointing that they didn't say more. But it's how it's always been. Online where it's easier for me to talk they have next to no interest in talking to me. If we do talk the second it's anything personal they start to ignore me.

I did this when I was diagnosed, wanted people to know but didn't want to tell people individually, didn't really get much of a response, few jokey ones which was fine.