My girlfriend is pretending to be autistic and it’s driving me nuts
A couple months ago,
my (32M) long-term girlfriend (32F) watched a Tiktok about “5 signs you might be autistic” or something like that and she’s now utterly convinced she’s on the spectrum. Her reasons? “She always felt she was different”, “She never had many good friends, only a trusted few”, “She routinely does things like cleaning”, “She always had very specific hobbies, like animals and books”. At first I thought she was joking, but soon she started beginning sentences with “As an autistic person…” on a daily basis. Whenever she messes something up, she now says “Oh, that’s because of my autism, I don’t always know when I do something wrong”. She started sharing Instagram reels about how hard it is to not be like other people. She never had ANY problems reading faces, social cues or socializing in general, she’s a very open and extraverted person. She enjoys clubbing and concerts much more than me.
Now, whenever we go out and meet new people, she makes sure to tell them she’s autistic right away and it’s insanely embarrassing to watch them slowly realize she’s talking out of her ass. Yesterday, at a house party, a couple we just met came up to me and started asking questions about “living with an autistic person”. That made me snap and I straight up told them she’s not. When we returned home, I told my girlfriend to either get an official diagnosis or stop telling everybody about “her autism” like it’s a fun personality quirk, because it’s embarrassing and, frankly, insulting to people with actual autism. She started crying, told me she doesn’t need a diagnosis because she “just knows”, sarcastically thanked me for my “support” and went to bed. Today, she got up and went to work without saying a word.
Am I overreacting? Am I missing something here? She never acted like this before, she’s usually a rational, mature woman. If she gets diagnosed, I’ll apologize of course, but am I wrong to refuse to participate in something I think is either a lie or a delusion?
