Cassandra phenomenon

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Painting of Cassandra by Evelyn De Morgan.

The Cassandra phenomenon is a term sometimes applied in relation to partners and significant others of an individual with Asperger Syndrome when they try to seek help and support, and relates to the disbelief they may encounter, even from professionals, when they seek help or support with the problems this invisible disability can create within a relationship or family. It can also refer to their own loss of faith in themselves within such a relationship. The term has been defined by Dr Tony Attwood^[1]:

One of the issues has been what we call now the Cassandra phenomenon. The partner recognises that their husband or wife with Asperger's syndrome is different and nobody believes them. Cassandra in Greek mythology had the gift of prophecy but the curse that nobody would believe her, so quite often as a partner you may be describing these things but when you go to professionals your partner may know intellectually what is the right answer to give, acts or makes a façade, and other people may think that you are lying, that you are creating this, that it is psychological or whatever.

He goes on to suggest that Cassandra phenomenon may also affect professionals who try to communicate some aspects of the affect of Asperger syndrome to other professionals.

The name is derived from the Greek myth of Cassandra. Cassandra was a daughter of Priam, the King of Troy. Struck by her beauty, Apollo provided her with the gift of prophecy, but when Cassandra refused Apollo's romantic advances, he placed a curse ensuring that none would believe her warnings. Cassandra was left with the knowledge of future events, but could neither alter these events nor convince others of the validity of her predictions. Cassandra correctly predicted that Paris's journey to kidnap Helen would end in doom for Troy. In Vergil's Aeneid, Cassandra warns specifically that the Greek gift of a giant wooden horse was soon to carry tragedy within the walls of Troy, a prophesy in which "All heard, and none believed". The term may also be applied in a sarcastic manner, referring to those who opportunistically claim to have predicted doom but were allegedly not believed.