I got re-evaluted this week and my ASD diagonals got removed

For reasons I still don't fully understand, my parents were determined to have me diagnosed with ASD, and honestly, it had a devastating impact on my life.

As a child, I felt pretty normal. I did well in school, had friends, and functioned like any other kid my age. Despite that, my parents pushed extremely hard for an autism diagnosis, and eventually they got one.

From a very young age, I was prescribed powerful antipsychotics and antidepressants that I never felt I needed. The side effects were awful. I was also given special treatment at school and in other areas of life, even though I was doing well academically and socially. Everywhere I went, people treated me differently.

All I wanted was to be treated like everyone else. I wanted the unwanted interventions, accommodations, and medications to stop being forced on me. Instead, I grew up feeling isolated and different. It left me struggling with depression and serious identity issues.

One of the hardest consequences was that I couldn't serve in the military like everyone else my age. My country has mandatory military service, but autistic people are not accepted. Serving my country was something I genuinely wanted to do, and losing that opportunity was deeply painful.

Now that I'm an adult, I've been re-evaluated and no longer have the diagnosis. Nobody can force treatment on me anymore. But the damage from years of being treated as though I were incapable, defective, or less than other people hasn't simply disappeared. Even now, I still carry the effects of that experience.