I'm so jealous of these autistic kids who when they have meltdowns in public, their parents defend their kid and be like "he's autistic and has ADHD, he can't help it!". My parents would have just smacked me. And yes I am autistic with ADHD. Not that my parents knew until I had to go and seek an assessment myself. No, they thought I was just an evil brat. They're not even fucking sorry. Just "we didn't know". So they just went straight for the assumption that I was a shitty kid and didn't even question that? The thought never occurred to them that there may have been a deeper issue that I couldn't help? Even when I got old enough to suspect and say that I think I'm struggling, they chose not to believe me and instead chose to believe that I was a bratty hormonal teenager. It's no wonder I grew up believing that all parents hate their kids. I thought it was normal.