Why do I receive massive pushback when I engage online with others? Is it even worth trying to get the feedback that addresses what I want at this point?

Relationship Advice

I (31M) am someone who's been active on Reddit for nearly 4 years now. As of today, I had to go on a huge blocking spree after I got pushback on my post in findapath asking for input on next steps I can take. I hid my post history, but the search parameter trick on Google can pull up a decent chunk of my comments and posts. I'm active in a lot of neurodiverse subreddits since I have ASD level 1, ADHD-I, motor dysgraphia, and 3rd percentile processing speed.

From what others have told me over the years, they dislike my repetitive posts, that I write long, or both. Here's the thing with those though. I've wrote posts that are seemingly the same to others, but I approach them from a different angle each time and that effort on my part doesn't get recognized at all. As for writing long, I write all of my posts in a stream of consciousness fashion. One would think other autistic or AuDHD individuals understand since we like to "infodump," but that's not the case usually.

The other criticism is seemingly not listening to the advice I get beforehand from other posts. The thing with that though is, up until I got discharged from Intensive Outpatient Therapy months ago, I used them for the majority of the time to bash myself. I currently want to continue Reddit though largely because I do enjoy when I get genuine engagement on my posts and I didn't want to succumb to pressure from others for the sake of just following others. As such, I've unfortunately been accused of validation and I can't understand why because of the next point.

Whenever I do revisit a topic from a different angle, I do so because the responses I get often don't directly answer the question and instead read into implications that derail the discourse completely. The main ones I've been hit with are lack of accountability, weaponizing my helplessness, and more. What's odd about the helplessness point is that many are quick to criticize my professional and academic failures I've had my whole life up until this point, yet are quick to say I'm weaponizing my helplessness at the same time. Those points can't mutually exist at all. Especially in my case, I've gone through state vocational rehabilitation and finally got a data entry job offer on the way this coming week once my background check is done. I'm also going to be in a program in the new year where I'll be paired with a mentor with similar disabilities and educational background as me.

I'm ultimately not sure whether the program will help me secure jobs that are for me given that my difficulties can be summed up as getting less output than neurotypicals on the same task. The counterpoint I usually get hit with is "spend more time learning." Unfortunately, that doesn't solve the automaticity issue I have too. For example, when I sort things, I need to recite the alphabet in my head every time I do so.

Regardless of the criticisms, I've continued to make an effort to post to try and get answers that don't fall along the lines of me not taking responsibility or whatever in this case (aka things I'm not explicitly asking for here). However, folks are recognizing me and trolling me in response. Or, they give pointers that are laced with criticism. The way those points are presented in a blunt fashion and are just straight up critical makes me question whether they're genuine too since it strikes me as that they want me to listen to them as a "gotcha" so they can power trip and aren't genuinely invested at all.

So, why do I receive pushback when I engage online with others when I post (and even comment sometimes)? Even though they often don't answer the questions directly at all? Is it even worth trying to get the feedback that addresses what I want to see at this point? The validation point in particular and that I'm looking for it is also confusing because it's not like I can expect folks to reply 100% of the time.

Posted Dec 29, 2025, 3:05 AM UTC · locked

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