Your therapist knows best because he knows your situation and condition.
I disagree that the therapist must know best. It is true that individual knows more about the situation and condition of the patient, but therapists are still individuals with individual opinions, and that doesn't mean they are necessarily correct.
That's the thing though. I'm not a little kid, I'm 25 and autistic. Those kids laughed at me because they found it weird that a grown man would want to dance with a Disney character. Stitch ignored me for the same reason. I spoke with my therapist about it, and he thinks I should just give up and stop going all together.
I'm honestly at a loss as to what to do. Some of my friends play those characters, especially Stitch, and I love to visit them. But because Disney's geared everything towards just small children now, I feel like what's the use because I'm not a kid and that's all they care about.
Disney has broken my heart
First off, I am sorry for what you are having to go through. My son is autistic, and it can be a frustrating condition to deal with. Add the bi-polor on top, and I can see why you are having a tough time.
One of the things you should probably realize about yourself is that you may not always perceive events in the same way as others. I will give you another interpretation based on the same events.
Stitch was most likely very busy with lots of people crowding him. It was not a single character - person controlled interaction such as they have with meet and greets. He did his best to get to everyone, but perhaps just missed out on you. It likely has NOTHING to do with your age or anything about you individually.
The kids for their part were all laughing and having a good time. They were probably laughing, but not AT you. If they were laughing AT you, they were laughing because you were silly, and they were enjoying it. They were most likely not laughing because they thought you were stupid for trying to dance as an adult, but more because they thought you were being silly and laughing was the appropraite response when someone does something funny. I.E. they gave the correct response to the situation. It was not intended to hurt or slight you, but instead intended to show support and interest in your activities.
These types of reactions can be very difficult for someone who is autistic to see clearly, so I can see where the confusion could come in to play.
Your best response in that situation is to play along with the other kids and laugh
with them. You will all have a good time together. remember that Disney provides an environment to have fun in. The characters and rides provide stimulation. But you can have fun WITH Disney and the other guests as well.
Disney is also not as kid centric as you might believe it to be. There are so many activities and things that are meant for adults; not as parents but guided to adults or things only adults might notice. Disney has layers of complexity in it so that children and adults can both get enjoyment from the activities.
Finally, try to remember to concern yourself with what you enjoy. If you do not find a specific activity enjoyable, then don't do it. Don't hurt yourself because you think you should be doing one activity over another. At the same time, be less concerned with what
you percieve others opinions of you are, and more concerned with your enjoyment of the activity.
You might believe that someone is laughing at you and making fun of you, but what you will often find out is that people will instead find you make them smile and laugh, and they enjoy that and by extension find you enjoyable to be around.
Just my 2 cents.
