An Autistic Woman who was Misdiagnosed and Wrongfully Medicated for a Decade

Bipolar disorder at 9???? Children can’t have bipolar disorder!
Who the h*ll would diagnose a kid with bipolar? It is not a childhood condition

this actually makes me so mad that the pharmaceutical companies and the medical industries would rather just increase someone's dosage when it's not working rather than thinking, "oh what can we try differently?" or "maybe we can try a different medication" or "lets do another test to see if what we originally diagnosed was incorrect". It's all about money and numbers. that's it. and it absolutely sucks.

Śliczna i krucha istota 😢 Gdybym mógł to nigdy nie przestałbym Jej przytulać ❤

Kassondra, you are amazing and strong, keep going on! I'm sending you a big hug <3 don't hide your personality, It's special

You're an amazing person inside and out. If everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at each other.

yes!

aww she is cute 🥺🙂

You know, I thought you were a pretty boy taking advantage of those less fortunate. However, I have seen your kindness, compassion, and insight in your programs. I do think you do very good work of the highest caliber. I hope I am right. Keep up the good work. /salute.

i was also misdiagnosed with bipolar for years. thank you for this video, it means a lot

Antipsychotics for 10 years for no reason is rough.

She is a beautiful woman inside and outside

What a beautiful person she is both inside and out. I hope she can find connection :)

You're an angel, Chris. The way you treat all different kinds of people exactly the same, with zero judgment and so much patience, is extraordinary, and I envy you. You inspire me.

I really hope, just in case you read this... that also people who dont specifically have autism feel very awkward in some social situations. I cant imagine how it is, i just want to tell you its not abnormal to have these feelings and people mostly will or should not judge you for them (if they are nice) :)) im sorry if this is confusing, english is not my first language

I Have Autism,and Didn’t Really Speak Until I Was Like 4 Or 5!!❤️

She's so beautiful...

The few people who've been willing to answer why they insist so much on me looking at them during a conversation, even after I explained I cant' focus on sensory information from more than 1 sense at a time (so I either can understand their words or look at them), have said that if I don't look at them, they feel dismissed and ignored. And that they'd rather feel validated, even if that means I'm not going to understand what they say. So to me it seems to be because of insecurity about their validity and importance as a person. Which I could never have guessed, because to me, I feel validated and important if the other person understand what I say, wheter or not they were looking at me.

In this world we are constantly trained to push down emotions and become robotic in nature, do not be embarrassed by going against the grain. It makes you unique and that's a part of the magic of being alive. Love from Ireland!

I really do think we shouldnt give kids any brain / body altering meds while they're still growing unless it's 100% needed

I'm her except that I have ME/CFS and not EDS and I'm doing a lot worse than her because so many years of being autistic and chronically ill and never knowing what was wrong with me has overwhelmed my body so much that it pretty much just stopped functioning and is shutting down more and more. If I had known about it, I could have paced myself and easily made some appropriate accomodations but now it's too late..
But it's still nice to watch someone who I know I'd be able to be friends with if I knew her in real life. I'm a believer too and as I said I'm almost exactly like her from what I can tell from this interview. And I'm also 31😄
I wish we could be friends - love from Switzerland♥️
Also, I'm now officially obsessing over axolotls. Thanks for sharing that little piece of information!

Thanks for sharing! I love talking about emotions and so much of what you describe is relatable to me and the closest around me. The thoughts and feelings you describe seem a lot stronger than I think I experience but I feel the same types of anxieties.

Damn, she is beautiful

imagine how many people were misdiagnosed or even think how many people were told they were "Aspbergers" when in reality, they are human with Autism spectrum. then imagine what more we can learn about our vast differences.

bet she bad

Lol, come live in the Netherlands, we are direct. And Eindhoven is Autism capitol. Normal cities have about 80 autistic people per 10,000. In Eindhoven it's about 3 times higher 243 i believe per same 10,000. I am talking about highfunctioning because we have the technical University, Philips (company) ASML (company) and the Hightec campus close together. Sinds work and Uni are often the meating place, and there is a genetic componant , you can understand that more children that can have autism are born here. There is also an neurodivergent awerness growing in the work place. I am als neuro divergent i have ADD. So there is some overlap. If i vibe with someone who i have never met before, chances are great that the other person is on the spectrum or has a form of ADHD. Like calls to like is a thing.

I think she is adorable and she seems more relaxed at the end of the video

Ci sono cure che belezza sono felice se nn o capito male sarebbe da provare secondo me ti troveresti bene un consiglio poi sei tu sei molto intelligente e informata ok vi auguro di stare sempre meglio ve lo meritate una bella forza avete natura in voi 🐞🦋✋❤️‍🩹💖

Vi salutò anch’io o problemi di altra natura andiamo avanti e sono con voi sempre ok ✋⭐️⭐️

Yes

Ciao belle persone tutti vmeglio di tanti altri nn fatevi problemi ok ciaooo

Ciaooo ancora 🥰

What an adorable pair. Now I'm obsessed with axolotls and starfish!

Thank you for sharing your story. It helps me see the perspective of autistic people.

I've been diagnosed with almost every popular mental illness. Non make sense. Until i went to get a testinf for autism. As a woman, it was very hard to get people to listen to me. As my treatment team. I still believe i have some of the mental illensess but not the majority. So im hoping this will give me peace

Girl you're amazing in every way! Don't let ANYTHING tell you different. You're unique, you're beautiful,
You're unique, you've got IT. DONT LET ANYONE tell you different. There's no such thing as "normal" normal isn't real. You're as special as everyone else. I hope you know that everyone has troubles dealing with people. The only people that aren't a bit shy or different then they're just built different cuz even me who's supposed to be "normal" person but I still have trouble dealing with people. You aren't different in a bad way you're just special...in the best most awesome way!!

I’m not autistic, but have other mental disorders. And have been quickly misdiagnosed w/ a one particular medication, which I won’t name | However, I know my own body & knew it was not right. After stopping the medication I felt 100% better. Sending ❤ your way girl! Thank you for sharing…

❤❤❤🙏🌈🌹👍☀️

My lord she's HOT

She is pretty adorable, it's sad that she had two decades of medications to change her personality when she didn't need them. I can't imagine what it's like to have that and then wonder who you were 'meant' to be without those medications. She sounded pretty sad when she talked about how she loved books and reading, but now she has difficulty doing those things. It is sad how little we know about autism and behavioral 'disorders', hopefully things will get better and people like her can have a more inclusive world.

This is such an important issue, late diagnosed autistic adults. Thank you both for covering it.

i amcurrently trying toget diagnosed before that due toan emotion meltdown i once went tothe hospital and as i was in ameltdown i couldnt really remember childood and the fact i also have been tested fo adhd when young but i movrd cuntries so we never continued. anyway they thought i had bpd and gave me meds had them for a half a year and my heartbeat went up as soon as i would wake up and i stopped, currently still fighitng to be believed with my experience
of adhd ad autism

I’m autistic too !! :0 I have the same pink axolotl plush, I named him mac and cheese :D

Im autistic and I was also misdiagnosed and put on medication that wasn't what I needed. I read a book about an autistic woman has an adult. I told my mom I want to have an autism evaluation it took 2 hours evaluation. I was then diagnosed with autism. I am able to live a more fulfilling life with less pain and more happiness

Hey the girl must search for "Kerri Rivera" and "Clordioxid"

idk if I'm autistic or what (I mean I'm trans and statistically there's a lot of overlap lol) but I really appreciate seeing someone say what she said about eye contact ("It's sensory overload but it also just feels way too intimate.") I said that to my therapist recently, that it feels "very, very, very intimate". Kassondra's half-joking "Can you handle the light and the darkness inside of me?" is totally on-point to how I feel about it lol. I can make eye contact but then my mind is very distracted by the feeling of "Wowowow, eye contact" and feeling very self conscious and also conscious of the other person, and I really like faces and facial expressions in general so it's just a lot to take in and distracts from, like, conversation. Anyway I'm probably "on the spectrum" lol.

Oh yeah another facet to eye contact is that since it feels so intimate to ME, I think it hurts to make eye contact with someone who doesn't see it as intimate, like I feel vulnerable in making eye contact but I don't feel like the vulnerability is, like, respected... I'm relatively more comfortable with making eye contact with someone who I think sees it as "sensitive" the way I do.

I agree about the diagnosis bring helpful. It feels so nice having a route to take to help oneself live better. Because when you are neurodivergent... the neurotypical world is a bit different. 😅

gotta love that exact science, psychology

it's like she is describing me... wow...