• Replies 3 replies
  • Subscribers 84 subscribers
  • Views 407 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

growing old with ASD- experience and expectations?

NAS65321

Hi as we have quite a few members who are 'older' , I am 53, I wondered about how aging affects our autism? Have any studies (that can be easily read) been done into the subject? I know its only been 30 or so years that ASD has been really known about so probably not?

I have always worked, apart from about a year unemployed in the 90's, nothing to do with ASD. However, I find myself increasingly exhausted by work, its getting harder and harder to make it through each day. I know at some point I will be burnt out and will no longer be able to work. In that my wife and I have a plan. She is 'normal' but has a stressful, if well paid job. We will sell up in Hampshire in 2025 and move to Lincolnshire. At 55 I can get to some of my pension, she can cash in her shares and we sell the house and become mortgage and debt free. Property is much cheaper there and we can get much less stressful jobs , me probably on min wage, and after 5 years go 4 days a week. We crave a simpler life, have more time to relax and have a much better quality of life cutting out the commute, unpaid overtime and stress. 

Overall life is ok at the moment , I push myself less, give myself more free time and care little about what others actually think of me. In the last few years I lost both my parents and saw my mum go into a care home and rapidly go down hill. It would be a living hell for me to live like that, something I am determined never to do. I may well die at my own hand should my quality of life diminish. I know that is easier to say than do but it is something I am very determined about.

What are your thoughts and experiences?

Rob

  • My Autism was mistaken for senility.....by a doctor. From now on I will have to mask with medics apart, I hope, from Autism experts. 

  • My thoughts and experiences are that as time goes on I become more comfortable in myself, the more procedures that I accrue the more problem that I can fix, growing old for me is better than where I came from.  

    My only real hinderance is resources, because I never cease to bounce back with and idealist thought, the more self-aware and self-knowledgeable I become the more vivid and detailed my inspiration becomes. 

    The place that I came from, was a place of dependency, in a world where people castaway dependants as liabilities. Perhaps in a world where I had more competent and understanding carers, I would have been happier as a child, but I did not know that world. Growing older as an autistic adult has been my real education, I am happier in that world, I always knew that my true saviour would be my own experience.

  • I was diagnosed early March. I am 54. Your question really resonated with me. My situation is the reverse concerning working, I need to work to keep me sane, too much spare time is not good for my mental health. It sounds like you have a good plan in place. I am still working on the self-care aspect of my diagnosis. I do not feel understood and since my diagnosis, I realise that I have really not come to terms with it and I also feel that I am running out of time. I understand the concept of keeping fit and healthy to help with the ageing process, but time passes so quickly and I am not a patient person. There are so many worries, sometimes it is difficult to not to become overwhelmed. A simple life is what I yearn but honestly  sometimes I am so lonely. You are fortunate to have a supportive partner, and I wish you much happiness.