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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 เม.ย. 2019
- Ellen talks about living with autism and how the condition affects her life. She talks about common misconceptions about autism and how better understanding of the conditions will help reduce stigma.
She presented her story to LPFT Board of Directors in April 2019.
Throughout my life as I have known autistic people, my experience is that they have a heart of Gold
I'm autistic too, I had my diagnosis at 23, after years of pain and confusion. I'm so much happier now because I understand myself more, life is still not easy in a world not built for us, but I'm here trying my best. I also relate to your connections with animals, I love them so much and I never stopped since I was a kid. They understand me and I understand them, we have a special connections and I really hope to found a job where I could be with them all the time. Thank you for this video/gen.
I’m autistic too and I really relate to your experiences (except for the empathy part, I’m extremely hyper empathetic and will cry if you cry and will feel anything anyone feels as if they were my own emotions. My cognitive empathy is pretty much non existent though) thank you from Brazil
I'm 25, and I've known I'm autistic since an early age, but I guess I thought that I could "fix it" by pretending I wasn't. I think really the only downside from this has been some of my more important social interactions. With people whom I'm terrified of making the wrong impression (which is literally a matter of time when interacting with me lol), I've completely avoided speaking and interacting with them because I believe they aren't willing to accept me enough to understand my differences and as a result will react poorly to everything I do because they think I'm breaking their secret rules on purpose.
Locking people whom I love out of my life is definitely worse than sticking my foot in my mouth, but the stress of walking that tightrope... Well I guess I finally know what the word is for my response thanks to this video! That uncertainty is just too much to endure, so I "bolt" from these situations because it's just so depressing to always have people think of you a certain way when you choose to be free and express yourself without the exhausting heavy filtering. It's so depressing to have people think I'm an asshole or psychopath (caused by difficulties using empathy for certain situations) that I have spent my whole life preferring that they think I'm shy or a weirdo who won't speak.
Accepting why and how I'm different is empowering me to fix these problems, but it's hard speaking about something so personal and so nuanced to people who have no clue what autism actually is because I understand there's a fine line between playing the victim and acknowledging setbacks, and I can't traverse that line because I don't know how people are responding to my words.
It doesn't help that society has presented me a situation parallel to the struggles of being understood as an autistic person with the way I'm constantly misunderstood as a bisexual man.
It seems like every part of who I am is misunderstood as a problem that either doesn't exist, needs to be fixed, or is a result of me looking for attention by trying to be unique. Look at film and tv - autistic people are either mentally deficient or cold-hearted geniuses. Bisexual men are portrayed as either confused, going through a phase, deciding "which one they actually like", or they are ashamed of being gay (can you possibly imagine how hurtful those assumptions are - you actually think I'm ashamed of my love????? (The worst part of this assumption is the premise - I'm not bi because OBVIOUSLY I'd be with a woman if I could, because being with a man is a last resort discount version of "real" love)) and if in an opposite-sex relationship, they're just trying to be special, show how liberal or woke they are by pretending to be a member of an oppressed group, an ashamed closeted homosexual, "exploring", "just having fun", or (my personal favorite) "they just have no standards" which is usually worded somehow like "he'll ****** anything or anybody!" as if my love is a quirk and it's somehow funny while also implying that homosexual behavior is inherently disgusting, of subpar quality, a "last resort for people with certain mental illnesses", and/or a decision. Don't even get me started on how bisexual women are portrayed...
Anyways - autistic digression aside - thank you so much for speaking out. It's so easy to lie to ourselves that the things which make us different (especially the things we LOVE about ourselves) don't come with setbacks. Without acknowledging these setbacks, we internalize the negativity we face from society and treat our uniqueness as something to hide, ignore, and be ashamed of. We're supposed to feel good about ourselves when people say, "I never would've guessed you're autistic/LGBTQ!" as if it's praise to not be who you are. Differences make species stronger, and I'm glad I live in an era where we're starting to understand that in many parts of the world.
Autism presents differently in different personalities.
Hi Ellen , just to say a huge thank you for this video , and I agree what you are saying . I'm 56 and I got diagnosed with autism only 8 years ago , I'm very lucky I have got brilliant support from all of the family and friends . And I'm sometimes get upset with myself , because some people don't understand , and don't want to understand with any body with Autism . Please Ellen keep up with the good work. All the Best . Simon
So could this be the reason why I have such a hard time to doing "normal" conversations with people? Like anyone autistic in here, can you relate to always trying hard to make a good answer out of every question someone asks but then always seem to say the wrong things, always see the person your talking to not interested in what your say or take too long to come up with an answer? Can anyone relate?
I have autism and this means a lot to me! Thanks Ella from America
I really relate to Ellen’s story. I wasn’t diagnosed with ASD until I was 26 but like Ellen I have been working in farming from a young age. Autism really is an advantage in our work as my over active senses mean I notice very quickly if a cow is ill or if a machine sounds different. I know the numbers of all 280 cows I work without looking at their ear tags and know lots of random facts about them! Also have a great love and relationship with animals. Thanks for sharing your story Ellen
What a great, explanation.
❤🙏🤗rhanks for sharing....may God bless you
I love my animals too lots n lots
I can relate i too have autism and i was diagnosed when i was 16
Love from the Philippines
Thank you for sharing Ellen. I can really relate to your connection with animals (and "disconnection" with social trivialities)
I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 38
Oh my goodness I relate. I freaked out when I was called for early dismissal once (An NT would be jumping for joy) 4:18
I was diagnosed at age 7
I am autistic too I was diagnosis at 2 or 3
Now how are you do had speaking problems
I am autistic as well
I recommend ear defenders
I'm exhausted too
My daughter shout in bus and sha says same words all the time she is 6 people get angry 😠 😒
I have just eaten five oat and raisin cookies and six cheese shaped hearts. I feel bloated and sick. It was the right decision at the time 🤢🤢
Autistic doesn't mean you have to be nasty to people and get annoyed with their conversations or illness. If you can love animals, you are capable of empathy and can learn to be empathic to humans.
Neurotypical doesn’t mean you have to be nasty to autistic people and get annoyed with their conversations or autistic traits. If you can love everyone else, you are capable of loving autistic people and understanding that we do not hate others, we just have a hard time understanding others and you can learn to be empathetic to us.
Hanneke, I have known, and tutored, Ellen for many years and have to say that she is definitely NOT nasty with people - there is a big difference between finding it difficult to feel empathy (internally) and displaying a 'nasty' reaction/attitude to others (external).