Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello all,
Newly diagnosed male here at the age of 37.
I've been reading https://tonyattwood.com.au/ website which was given to me by my psychiatrist.
I have so many questions because even though I can speak flat and monotone, I can also sound quite hyper but I was also diagnosed with ADHD too and I can see some other persons with autism do the same.
I've also wondered about groups. I can manage a group of 10 people or so as long as it's my special interest. Anything else and I can feel confused about when is it my turn or completely zone out, be uncomfortable, extremely anxious and so forth.
I also think from reading the materials provided to me that I may have pathological demand avoidance but I'm not sure how this would be diagnosed as an adult but I read and believe I have the same behaviours.
I'm here to kind of dispel the myths around autism. I also read from the King's College London that high IQ autistic adults learn social skills at a price, which I think might explain why I burnout so frequently.
Howdy. I was diagnosed at 37 as well, a year and a half ago. It's a big spectrum but most of us have social anxiety, sensory overload, communication issues etc. Being in groups and at loud events cause me a lot of bother, but with the right support structures in place you can deal with them quite effectively.
I found it very liberating to get my diagnosis as it explained all the issues in my life up to that point. You can now approach your life with fresh knowledge and actively focus on mindfulness and the like to make yourself comfortable and happy, so I'd aim for that as an immediate goal.