Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone! This is all new to me! I have recently self identified as autistic at 56. I have been referred to and accepted by the autism assessment team but there is a 3 1/2 year waiting list. Since the penny dropped, I have become increasingly scared, bewildered, angry, depressed, feeling defective, and that my entire life has been a lie. I am I assume, high functioning, I have a masters degree, I have had good jobs, I have brought up a child alone whilst doing all of the above. At the moment I feel like I have opened pandoras box and really want to put the lid back on as I really don't like what's in it! I also feel like a bit of a fake in that I've got this far without any problems but realising that actually, I've always had problems. I guess I just want someone to say this is all normal? Thank you for reading!
My mum is in the same situation as you, I could tell that she struggled with accepting it at first, but doing so has helped her now.
Hopefully now you know you can work on the problems you had in life, since myself, and my mum, accepted that we are on the spectrum we no longer force ourselves to go to work social events or other things that make us uncomfortable. Good luck with processing the new information - I'm sure knowing yourself better will have a positive impact on your day to day life!