Published on 12, July, 2020
Looking back over my childhood and considering various experiences within my wider family, I can trace not only what I believe to be the "path of autism" but also a fair amount of poverty, to varying degrees.
Now I'm not suggesting that there's a straightforward link between autism and poverty - certainly I can see many positives to my neurodivergent mind which have enabled me to make a fair living over the years - but the patterns do seem intertwined. I can see lots of issues with anxiety, depression and addiction too but increasingly I suspect these might be related to undiagnosed (and therefore unsupported) autism. The patterns seem to involve difficulties in the workplace (choosing and staying in jobs), education (especially higher education where independence and social factors seems to become increasingly important), accessing healthcare and applying for benefits (a stressful process in itself).
During my teenage years in particular, we went through a lot of poverty and our living conditions were quite poor, to the extent that we didn't dare invite people round and our social isolation became ever worse. Dad did what work he could, but was trapped in a low paying job and neither of my parents had much knowledge of the benefits system (I was quite shocked recently when my now elderly mother said that we probably could have claimed something to help).
And going back a generation, my grandmother's house was something of a disaster. No housework ever done, not much with which to do it, no repairs carried out, not much washing, a LOT of hoarding, alcohol consumption and gambling. It was like that with my uncles too, although they were very intelligent people and obviously quite talented in many ways.
Is this all necessarily to do with autism? Probably not. But I'm suspicious. Especially now that my sons are having major difficulties making their way in the world and a lot of our money seems to go on false starts in education and work. There's some good stuff in there too no doubt, but I'm worried.
Any thoughts?
I certainly wouldn't say I live in poverty by any stretch of the imagination. But there are elements of my life that mean I'm not that well off. I have a 2:1 degree, yet I work a minimum wage part time job which is also term time only meaning that my wage falls below the living wage. I would find the stress and pressure of many other jobs too much and prefer to be comfortable in my job. I would also hold myself back if there were an opportunity for a promotion in my workplace as the idea of an interview with people I already know makes me feel physically sick. Interviews in general make me very anxious and there would have to be a strong reason for me to go through any again. Last time I did one was because I desperately needed a job.
I also have had issues such as over paying on my electric bill for months as I kept putting off ringing them as I hate talking on the phone. I have over paid on cars because I'm easily talked into things. I probably pay more than I need to on food as I prefer to go to the little shop close to me than bigger, cheaper stores and I just buy what I need at that moment rather than planning ahead and buying in bulk.
There are also reasons that I spend less than others though as I don't socialise a lot. I don't spend any money on things like make up or expensive dresses or anything like that.
I'm very fortunate to have a very loving and supportive family who would help me if I did get stuck with money.
So yes there probably is some kind of link between autism and poverty or at least not being really well off. But I wouldn't say it's a direct link. And it probably stetches further than autism to other conditions and mental health problems and traumatic life experiences.
Yes, I'd agree it stretches much further. However, I'm also wondering about the role of autism in making us more vulnerable to trauma and mental health issues. I certainly have a certain naivety that can make me more vulnerable, plus the repeated experiences of rejectiona nd not fitting in have taken their toll on my mental health over the years. It would be impossible to separate out the strands and say, "Yes, this is pure autism."
I'd definitely say I've underachieved over the years too. My earnings have not been commensurate with my effort, experience and qualifications. Meanwhile others rattle past me in the fast lane powered by their self confidence and know how in the social domain, often without even the qualifications that are stated in the person spec. I sort of feel confounded by it all.
Yes I would say autism definitely makes people more vulnerable to trauma and more likely to struggle with mental health. These things involve so much processing and dealing with emotion which doesn't come easily with autism. They are also not helped by lack of communicating again difficult with autism.
You are definitely right when you say you can't separate it out into what is purely down to autism. I guess that gives the question is anything purely down to autism?
Perhaps because I am so recently diagnosed, I am currently tending to look at everything through the lens of autism. The Autism Team warned me I might. But I'm sort of seeing a diagram with autism at the centre and the other issues radiating out. There is also, of course, the interplay with external factors that have nothing to do with autism and are beyond our control but I think I'm more vulnerable to the effects of these too. I sometimes seem to react very badly to things which I notice NTs are able to easily shrug off.