Told my friends of 18 years about my diagnosis and it did not go well
EDIT: I really appreciate everyone's comments, they helped me look at it from different angles. I realised that the way I told them about my diagnosis was overly casual and by-the-way, so I made it seem like it really wasn't a big deal, so they probably had no idea how to respond to me and likely felt a bit awkward. So I ended up sending another rather long message to clarify that this is actually a really big deal for me, and that I was telling them because they were important to me and I wanted to share what was going on in my life and what I've been struggling with. Their responses to this was actually amazing, and they've been really supportive. The girl who said "everyone's a little autistic" apologised for downplaying what I'm going through and they've all told me that they love and support me and are here for me always.
Soooooo yeah, the irony of me struggling to communicate the way I should have the first time, in talking about my ASD diagnosis, and downplaying my feelings in order to avoid making others uncomfortable (and thereby leading to a miscommunication and making them even more uncomfortable) is not lost on me.
Also, we live in different countries now so I would be unable to have this discussion in person, as a couple of you suggested.
..........
I have been friends with these girls for 18 years (since I was 15).
I was diagnosed with ASD in February, and have since been processing and am very selective about who I tell. I completely missed a social cue in my group chat with these girls this morning so thought it would be the perfect opportunity to mention it.
I don't know if it's because I mentioned it in part of like a casual conversation instead of bringing it up properly (which would have just felt slightly weird? Idk), but they completely blew me off. The group is me and 3 other girls. The first one just said "Hahaha, if it makes you feel better, everyone is slightly autistic 😂" and another one just responded to that message with the 100 emoji. The third girl hasn't said anything (not reading into this, she may just not have read it yet or anything).
But I feel so shitty. I feel like these girls know me better than most, the two who just blew me off are TEACHERS, and I've just been completely blown off like I've told them I stubbed my toe, not that I've gotten this life-changing answer to the millions of questions I've had over the course my life.
I didn't want a massively dramatic response, because I don't think that's necessary, but acknowledgement would have been nice? My life has been fucking hell, and I have only just started to stop hating myself for being different now that I have my diagnosis and a reason for me being the way I am/struggling with things the way I do.
I know not everyone understands autism very well and I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt me and probably haven't even realised what a big deal this is to me, but fuck, this sucks.
I am VERY strongly anti-conflict and get severely anxious bringing up anything that may make anyone uncomfortable, so I'm absolutely terrified to call them out/tell them that I'm hurt and what a big deal this diagnosis is to me.
I don't know what my aim is posting this is, probably just to vent/offload to people that may understand me. Thanks for reading 🩷