Published on 12, July, 2020
I had suspected for the past 2-3 years that I might very well be autistic and have done plenty of research which included keeping an eye on this community forum.
I was diagnosed just over a week ago and whilst it came as no big surprise, it did knock me back a bit to the point where I haven't felt up to working since.The reality has hit home with me and has opened a Pandora's box - especially when I now look back on events in my life both recent and further back in my past (I'm 52).I am trying to focus on the here and now, particularly around work and how to approach things when I do return (hopefully very soon).I want / need to explain to my colleagues about my autism and how that affects my communication - something that has caused them concern in the past.
Yesterday I received the written report for my diagnosis which included some generic website links for advice and assistance. Looking into these has been a bit of a disappointment as the majority do not resonate with me. I have been put on a waiting list for a "6 session psycho-educational small group programme for people recently diagnoses with autism" - not sure how long the wait will be or what it will be like
I thought that I'd start this community discussion with the hope that others would share their experiences of the days and weeks following their diagnosis.I'd be particularly interested to hear how this has affected professional people who have been diagnosed later on in their life.
Ditto to lots of this and to Amerantin. I was diagnosed at the start of January. I was also offered 6 sessions which were OK, but I did have to chase them up to get on them. A lot of what was covered I had already read up on. I've also done some other discussion groups I found on twitter.
I decided to be open, have blogged and spoken about how things are for me at work. I am lucky in having a supportive team and we are currently trying to put reasonable adjustments in place, although this went a bit pear shaped with a recent office move.
One of the issues I have is that I don't know what I want or need and can't properly articulate some of the stressors I have. Everyone says I do a good job although they do know I can get frustrated/stressed more than your average Joe. So it's great that I'm being offered help and I'm trying to overcome the pride issue of not asking for help but at the same time I'm finding some of the suggestions of different bits of software, techniques and where I should be sat a little bit overwhelming. I also need a better strategy for what to do on days when I'm in the office and feel like my head might explode, at the minute I just try and keep a lid on it til I get home.