AaronMay 19, 2025

Me: Can I please get a reminder for the lab work appointment?

Doctor: We don't do that.

Me: It's really important for people like me.

Doctor: We can't do everything for you. You have to take responsibility.

Me: [Thinking, irritated] What do you think I'm doing right now? Clearly, I am making an effort. [Speaking] It's not a responsibility thing. It's not like I don't try.

It's not irresponsibility if a person with ADHD and autism struggles to remember to do things. Stop turning my disability into immorality. I don't blame you for not remembering calculus. It's easy for me to do that, and hard for me to remember appointments, so I'm wrong? Are you wrong for having a hard time remembering calculus when appointments are easy for you to remember? No. Neither of us is a bad person for being forgetful of certain things. Stop treating me like I'm some kind of asshole for not being like you.

I need a new doctor.

#ActuallyAutistic
#autism
#disability
#discrimination

Show threadCscharfsteinMay 20, 2025
@hosford42 I don’t want to intrude or be an asshole but what I do is use a voice assistant. Just go „hey dingus, remind me of doctor on date“. It’s obnoxious but it immediately takes it from your brain and creates something that might be close to what you need for a reminder ?
Show threadAaronMay 20, 2025

@cscharfstein I'm all for strategies to help me remember.

I'm just annoyed that the doctor failed to see that me asking for a reminder *was* me taking responsibility, pursuing all my options. She could have just said no, we can't/won't do that, but instead, she had to turn it into a personal attack on my character.

Also, I know they already have all the mechanisms in place to do this because they do it for regular appointments. They just won't.

Show threadCscharfstein
@hosford42 Oh I feel you. I once had to chase my doctor because I wrote an email and never got a response. Their argument? We clearly wrote that we only handle emails during office hours. They meant they handle emails that _arrive_ during office hours… they throw away anything else.
May 20, 2025 at 8:09pmWeb
Show threadAaronMay 20, 2025
@cscharfstein WTF kind of policy is that!? wow