TL;DR

• Medical gaslighting is systemic: Doctors often mask their ignorance of autistic physiology with arrogance, leading to a cycle of unnecessary repeat visits.
• Questionnaires over symptoms: Physical conditions are being misdiagnosed as mental health issues because doctors rely on rigid forms rather than listening to patients.
• The “More Care” Myth: The solution isn’t just more mental health resources; it’s better, research-informed medical care that acknowledges the complex physical realities of autistic adults.

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I’m going to keep writing about medical care and autism until it gets better or I know my thoughts are complete. Yeah, working on my thoughts because the first thing isn’t happening.

I can’t even describe how I feel about this when it comes to treating autistic people. I know it’s not just autism. Imagine being unable to communicate at all.

But autism is different because they act like they understand things and won’t admit to their ignorance. And they continue to complain about autistic adults (but really all ages) using medical resources.

Hey, brainiac, if you treated us right the first time, guess what? Can you figure out what that might do, or should I spell it out? I’ll just be obvious.

If we were treated right the first time, there would be fewer visits. OMG.

But here we are. I just had a doctor visit from the worst doctor ever. Bedside manner (as if I really care) is okay. But to be fully transparent, this isn’t even about autism. At all.

No one is supposed to look at a questionnaire, not get your symptoms, and diagnose you. NO ONE. But it happened to me, and I can tell she does it with other people.

Even other doctors would say, “Uh, that’s not right.” Only because it’s not exclusively about autistic people, of course. Love throwing that in their faces. But so true.

So, I was incorrectly diagnosed. Not new for me at all. I’ve had bad diagnoses for decades due to their lack of knowledge. But it’s 2026, and I’m DONE.

I was caught off guard and was like, “You are really doing this?” I said something like, “Answers to those questions don’t always equal X,” But she acted like she didn’t get it. She wasn’t confused (in her opinion). She was doing her job just fine.

But I can show anyone the questions, and they would agree that anyone going through a gastroparesis flare would answer yes to them. It’s objective. It means I can’t eat much due to gastroparesis. How can anyone (much less a doctor) make a diagnosis not at all related to the digestive system from that?

And this is why I laugh when people say, “Go ask your doctor,” or “We need more mental health care.” But the people who can afford it aren’t always getting the best care, so now what? It’s not that we need more of it.

It needs to be better, and people need to accept that everything can’t be cured by “mental health care.” Even if everyone had care, there would still be issues.

I truly believe I would probably be better off not going to a doctor at this point. I’m taking less medicine. But I still need something to help me sleep while going through this flare. Maybe in 3 months I will be able to need next to nothing.

Anyway, quiz a doctor about autism and physical health, and I bet 80% would fail. Probably more, but I’m trying to be nice. This includes PCPs, neurologists, psychiatrists, cardiology, etc. They know next to nothing.

In 30 years, when I’m dead, they will know what many other autistic people know. All of the info is out there, btw. Which makes this 1000% worse. It’s printed.

But they can only go by what they learn in college (scoff), so they are clueless. It will take decades for this info to reach everyone.

But the least they could know is that most autistic adults have GI problems, sleep issues, and ANS issues. Many have non-celiac gluten sensitivity, epilepsy, neuroinflammation, immune dysregulation, metabolic abnormalities, 4x more likely to get Parkinson’s, and I can go on.

And most doctors don’t know this. Unbelievable. This is bad medical care! If you are treating an autistic person but not considering any of this, you are giving subpar care. And probably misdiagnosing.

And anyone who thinks this is nothing is showing me why this is an issue in the first place!

Source: Bridging the Gap Between Physical Health and Autism Spectrum Disorder https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7335278/#CIT0041