Okay I really hate to be ‘that guy’ but I wouldn’t say that across the board, autistic people who didn’t get diagnosed in childhood have privilege over those that did. It’s a lot more convoluted and messy than that…undiagnosed autistic people didn’t get the support and acknowledgement that diagnosed autistic people did. Often, a lot of people who have had a diagnosis in childhood still don’t tell their employers anyways, because they will discriminate against you in a way you can’t definitively prove.
You’ll still get discriminated against though anyways, diagnosis or not, disclosed or not, unless you are really really good at masking your traits which also takes a toll on your mental health. Basically, work as an autistic person is a nightmare regardless of whether you disclose or not unless you get extremely lucky.
Plus, a lot of people who didn’t get diagnosed in childhood either didn’t get diagnosed because their family literally couldn’t afford the diagnostic process, or because their family just ‘didn’t believe’ in neurodivergence or that poor mental health was a thing at all, and instead just berated and/or abused their children for being different while actively denying them the words to explain why they were the way they were even as other people were clearly noticing. But then a lot of autistic people who did get a childhood diagnosis had to go through ABA and did get further ostracized from their peers. So…it’s…messy.
I didn’t realize that I was autistic until I was much older. Shortly after realizing it, I signed up for a local program that supports autistic individuals. During the intake, the specialist pointed out that a lot of peculiar experiences between me, school, teachers, and my parents were likely part of a school program for autistic students. It would also explain why I was put in a special school, and in that school, in special classes. However, I don’t have definite proof of this, so I’m considering contacting my grade school to see if they still have my records. I think it would help me make sense of my childhood if I have proof that my parents and school knew I was autistic.
Okay I really hate to be ‘that guy’ but I wouldn’t say that across the board, autistic people who didn’t get diagnosed in childhood have privilege over those that did. It’s a lot more convoluted and messy than that…undiagnosed autistic people didn’t get the support and acknowledgement that diagnosed autistic people did. Often, a lot of people who have had a diagnosis in childhood still don’t tell their employers anyways, because they will discriminate against you in a way you can’t definitively prove.
You’ll still get discriminated against though anyways, diagnosis or not, disclosed or not, unless you are really really good at masking your traits which also takes a toll on your mental health. Basically, work as an autistic person is a nightmare regardless of whether you disclose or not unless you get extremely lucky.
Plus, a lot of people who didn’t get diagnosed in childhood either didn’t get diagnosed because their family literally couldn’t afford the diagnostic process, or because their family just ‘didn’t believe’ in neurodivergence or that poor mental health was a thing at all, and instead just berated and/or abused their children for being different while actively denying them the words to explain why they were the way they were even as other people were clearly noticing. But then a lot of autistic people who did get a childhood diagnosis had to go through ABA and did get further ostracized from their peers. So…it’s…messy.
I didn’t realize that I was autistic until I was much older. Shortly after realizing it, I signed up for a local program that supports autistic individuals. During the intake, the specialist pointed out that a lot of peculiar experiences between me, school, teachers, and my parents were likely part of a school program for autistic students. It would also explain why I was put in a special school, and in that school, in special classes. However, I don’t have definite proof of this, so I’m considering contacting my grade school to see if they still have my records. I think it would help me make sense of my childhood if I have proof that my parents and school knew I was autistic.