Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all,
Over the past 18 months or so, my wife and myself have come to the conclusion that I could well be on the Autistic spectrum. My wife had a slight suspicion prior, but after I had a heart attack last year, it became more apparent, probably due to me being far too tired to keep masking as I was recovering.
We analysed my meltdowns / shutdowns (as we guess they are now and not just me going off on one), triggers, my aversion to noises (I can hear the hum of lights, fridge, electrical equipment etc. and always thought it was strange that I couldn't filter it out), dislike of bright lights (including sitting in the sun for any length of time) amongst quite a few other things and me being a thoroughly anti-social git (a lot of meltdowns always happened prior to going out to a social function, holiday with friends etc).
This analysis led us to the conclusion and has helped up change things lifestyle wise and house wise to help me.
I've also been told by a Psychologist that it does sound like I am, but they don't have the qualification / ability to diagnose me and the NHS authority don't deal with adult diagnosis, so it looks like a private route would be needed.
Although I'm only at the start of trying to determine whether I should get an official / medical diagnosis, I'm just wondering if people my age (nearing mid 50's) do ever get diagnosed and what, if any, advantages does the diagnosis have, aside from peace of mind and an understanding of why I am like I am?
Thanks.
almost 50 years old, freshly diagnosed.
A formal diagnosis could help you on the workplace, it would protect you under the disability act of 2010.
If you want support or help, you can have them. As long as you can pay. There are no provisions for an high functioning adult.
If you want to embark in a voyage of self-discovery, go ahead. Personally, I think that at 50yo it's way too late. Our formative and best years are already long gone.
I know where you're coming from, and too much water under the bridge.
All of us oldies couldn't have got diagnosed as kids, even though autism might have technically existed as a condition, it didn't exist in the real world, I'd never even heard of it until I was about forty, and even then, indirectly, only by accident through looking at other issues because of struggling so much. If you're in poverty you're not privy to much and you're just at the mercy of everything getting a hammering from all sides. Where do you realistically go from that? Where I come from you didn't have words like 'anxiety' even, you were just expected to knuckle under and keep your mouth shut.