Is his behavior normal?

I’ll preface this by saying I’m an 18 year-old high school senior who lives with their parents and is autistic but whose dad is in denial of that fact and refuses getting me resources to help with it.

My dad’s calling me immature and implying that I’m delusional because I wouldn’t let him or my mother use their automatic blood pressure cuff on me. They wanted to because I complained of chest pain, probably related to my recent endoscopy but they still wanted to check. I have sensory processing issues due to my autism so feeling my own pulse amplified and the squeezing sensations like having my blood pressure checked, being hugged, or wearing leggings, jeans, or long-sleeved shirts feels painful and horrendously overwhelming, like I’m being attacked and dug into. I wouldn’t let my mother put the cuff on me because I was terrified anticipating the pain so my dad grabbed and held down my other arm to prevent me from escaping (I was sitting on the couch). I got so scared and stressed that I cried, I just couldn’t do it.

They let me go but my dad seemed mad at me and I don’t understand why; reacting fearfully to something immensely painful isn’t unreasonable or infantile, but he thinks his experiences are universal, keeps saying it isn’t pain, only discomfort. I find it extremely arrogant, narrow-minded, and discrediting that he thinks he knows my body and feelings better than I do. I told him this and he just keeps saying I’m the one who’s wrong. It drives me nuts that I can’t convince him and he’s stuck with the distorted image in his mind that I’m an emotionally underdeveloped stubborn child when maturity wasn’t even relevant to the situation. He does this with literally every quirk or personality trait of mine and even my mother’s that he dislikes or doesn’t personally relate to or understand, it can feel like he’s gaslighting at times. Once my mother was seasick and throwing up and he told her to stop, it’s all in her head. Like what the hell?!

Before anyone asks, it isn’t like I don’t let doctors get my reading; they usually use a manually pumped up cuff that’s less painful, and around doctors I’m not embarrassed to use my coping mechanisms like flicking with my fingers or swaying my head to reduce and distract from the pain, I create output to block the input. I couldn’t do it at home with my dad in the room because he’d tease me, he always does no matter what I do.

Is it normal for him to be like this, unable to see outside his normal and realize that other people’s realities are different, to get angry and tell me I’m immature? I can’t help that I have sensory issues, I don’t like dealing with them either, it’s embarrassing and exhausting having your body force you to lose control and go into fight or flight mode when it decides it can’t handle anymore bombardment. Should I even bother talking to him about it? I’ve dealt with this treatment and worse for years. I’d appreciate if autistics answered.

Voting Results
31% Normal
Based on 13 votes (4 yes)
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Comments ( 14 )
  • I hear where you're coming from on a lot, I empathise with your situation with your body and mentality and your parents.

    Your dad seems to think he can lead a horse to water and make it drink, which does imply some deficits on his part.

    I understand getting over stimulated, and feeling pain from doing certain things, but I think if you tweak your outlooks just a little you could go from rarely stepping out of your comfort level to accepting that there are things you're gonna have to do.

    It seems like you're gonna wanna move out, or maybe you're gonna go to college, but when you turn 18 and graduate, life gets kicked up a notch and there are gonna be tons of things that will make you feel that way. If you don't do anything that causes you to react like that, worse case scenario is you become homeless. I'm guessing it probably goes beyond wearing long sleeve clothing or feeling your pulse amplified by pressure. You're gonna have to talk to people for housing, job interviews, your work may ask you to do something. I mean there are literally tons of things that gave me anxiety that no one understood in high school, not even my dad, and I ended up getting evicted by him a few times.

    But after that and I was alone and left with my anxiety and shortcomings, I had to figure out a way to survive. It's hard to overcome these things, but you get motivated if you will literally die because of them.

    I only know the situation from what you wrote, but your dad seems to call the shots and he doesn't seem the type tolerate less than what he can do.

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  • my_life_my_way

    There are ways you can learn to mask your autistic tendencies so you can behave more normal in public and around your parents.

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  • Try low dose antipsychotics plus a benzo to help with ur autism.

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    • Blipblorpbing

      Aren't you supposed to talk to a doctor for this kind of thing?

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    • Inkmaster

      That is horrible advice. Autism is not a psychotic disorder. Taking antipsychotics for it will just mess you up.

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      • Antipsychotics help with autistic irritability/meltdowns too.

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        • Inkmaster

          That's like saying, "Antidepressants help with ADHD hyperactivity." They may make you less hyperactive, but only because they're making you lose the will to live.

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          • I take antidepressants and i can guarantee they do not make you lose your will to live.

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            • Inkmaster

              They did for me.

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  • 1234tellmethatyoulovememore

    I accidentally voted yes but meant no, sorry

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  • FromTheSouthWeirdMan

    Hes trying to prepare you for this sick world. He's pushing you as much as possible. He believes that you have more worth than you think.

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  • Jamie_Sulky

    it seems like your dad is quite impatient and doesn't really think of the other's perspective. He's basically just going "oh get over yourself" or "grow up, its not bad" because to him, it isn't, he just can't grasp that the experience is different for you. I mean, quite a handful of people have certain things they find upsetting or annoying from their parents, but good news for you is you seem to be moving out soon so don't worry about it.

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    • It becomes even weirder because he accuses ME of being the one with deficits in taking another perspective just because he's unable to convince me to convert to his political, moral, and religious beliefs (no dad, I won't revert back to homophobia. I was able to figure out that homophobia's wrong when I was 11) even though I worry all the time about how my words and actions are interpreted. The lack of self-awareness on his part is baffling. My mom tells me to ignore him, I vent to her or imagine I'm venting to someone when he makes me upset but it's still distressing that he thinks so lowly of me and there's nothing I can do to get him to understand. Sorry for ranting, it's just frustrating to deal with.

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      • Jamie_Sulky

        No I get it. There are many dads who want their child to be like them, and be the way they want because they believe the only right way is their way. Its good to be your own person and disagree with him, and honestly, since your 18 your going to be able to just be yourself and be free from his judgement once you move out. I have problems with my dad, probably not as severe as this but my dad is homophobic which I've always kind of had a problem (I'm bi). I've tried to fix the problem many times but I'm also 18 so I'm just putting up with it. Even then, my dad is my dad and I still love him. You'll move out soon and so will I, and things may get better then.

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