The Elephant in the Room

[Nicola94]

I think my Mum is Autistic and I don't know how to tell her. It's an awkward situation, I'm 24 and live away from home and I happened to mention it to my Dad at one point but he didn't take it well. In fact he got quite angry, dismissed it and told me not to mention it again.

I feel that it is something of an elephant in the room situation among my family, my cousin diagnoses adults with Autism for her Job and I feel like everybody knows except my Mum, but nobody is willing to talk about it.

I also worry that I am slightly autistic, and it's been playing on my mind a lot recently. I think this is something which has put a lot of strain on my relationship with my Mum and the rest of my family, and that she is unhappy. She is very sensitive, and gets upset a lot when she's been involved in awkward social situations. We often argue about the way she is and at present I find it extremely difficult to spend any time with her without getting would up. Obviously I don't want to feel that way.

Can anyone offer any advice on what to do, or share their own experiences with approaching the subject with a loved one?

[barbarakirk462]

This sounds like my mum at the moment, though in her case it's to do with getting her ears syringed or her hearing aids fixed as she's saying there's a lot of noise next door. Both me and my elder sisters have said we don't hear it, and she gets annoyed with me about it.

[uso0]

I got into similar situation as well recently... I went home and told my parents I'm diagnosed Asperger's and my dad got angry, but my mom doesn't care at all. But I want them to take it seriously, I want understanding... And I'm not getting it.