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Recently Diagnosed

JonOz

at the age of 64 1/2 I have been diagnosed as being on the Spectrum, a year ago I knew nothing of ASD.

As part of the diagnosis, it was suggested that I try to make contact with other people on the spectrum to learn from them.  I live in north Essex and would welcome guidance how to connect with people, any suggestions please???

  • in reply to Emily

    Many thanks Emily - appreciate the comments - thank you

  • in reply to Dawn

    Thanks, Dawn, 

    First "Don't Panic" springs to mind :-)

    I have been reading and that is very useful, but never thought of YouTube, i will have a look - thanks.

    I'll also chase up MIND in our area...

  • Congratulations on your diagnosis and welcome. I'm a late comer too. I was diagnosed in Nov at nearly 57.

    Breath. Take your time. Shed a few tears if you want. Have a few 'hip, hip hurrahs' if you want. Answers slowly all those questions you ever had about yourself.

    Personally, I think the youngsters have the answers. I learned so much from YouTube blogs by younger people on the spectrum. I found myself nodding along in recognition, wishing to God I'd known what they know about themselves much earlier.

    If you are a reader, there are a ton of auto biographies out there written by autistic people. Ones I've enjoyed and worth ordering on Amazon are, 'Odd Girl Out', Sarah Kurcack's 'I overcame my autism and all I got was this lousy anxety disorder' (it's actually quite funny in places, especially when she starts talking about her championship pillow fighting).  I've got the newly released 'Drama Queen' and Chris Packham's bio on my list.

    If you want to face to face meet people, organisations like Mind run courses for the newly diagnosed. Ask your GP to put you in touch with their  'social prescriber', who will know what's going on in your area- anything from hobby clubs, church groups to courses with other NDs.

    And of course, we're here. All those bizarre things you thought no one else would ever relate to, someone here will recognise :-)

  • Welcome to the family :) coming here is a good start, lots of people in the same boat to connect with. That's why I came here because I was so different to everyone else but here I'm understood and can be myself. I'm not sure because of Covid but I think there's autistic groups out there where you can meet others like you, not sure if there's any in Essex but it might be worth taking a look.