Diagnosed late in life

Yes, I’m a 53 years old Irish gay man from a Rural Irish Catholic background in the U.K. 21 years and I’ve been diagnosed later in life via Zoom & email in 2021, having started the process in 2019 - what I’ve been really shocked by since my diagnosis is the fact that there is very little post-diagnostic support apart from this website and forum and of how much ignorance there is out there when it comes to autistic adults - most of the post-diagnostic support is geared towards children and not adults, in both public and private health spheres - most people simply refuse point blank to understand the condition, refuse to be educated about autism, regard our issues as nonsense and still hold the belief that the only way to manage autism is by means of ultra strict milltary style discipline - as an older gay man, even though many autistic people are LGBT and many LGBT people are autistic, the lack of support within the LGBT community is as shocking as is the level of prejudice and discrimination within the LGBT community towards autistic people - all of this is going to present serious problems in the coming years with an ageing population of autistic adults beyond state pension age, in terms of the quality of life that we will have - I cut all ties with the LGBT community 18 years ago and I returned to my traditional Catholic faith, as I have extended family in Rural Ireland and I’ve come to realise that what carries me through and what is important to me is my Catholic faith - I personally believe that autism is in some ways an advantage, as it enables us to see with clarity the truth of a given situation, such as we have seen with Covid - focusing on real facts and on the truth, it makes us immune to brainwashing and indoctrination that so impacts everyone else around us 

Yes, I’m a 53 years old Irish gay man from a Rural Irish Catholic background in the U.K. 21 years and I’ve been diagnosed later in life via Zoom & email in 2021, having started the process in 2019 - what I’ve been really shocked by since my diagnosis is the fact that there is very little post-diagnostic support apart from this website and forum and of how much ignorance there is out there when it comes to autistic adults - most of the post-diagnostic support is geared towards children and not adults, in both public and private health spheres - most people simply refuse point blank to understand the condition, refuse to be educated about autism, regard our issues as nonsense and still hold the belief that the only way to manage autism is by means of ultra strict milltary style discipline - as an older gay man, even though many autistic people are LGBT and many LGBT people are autistic, the lack of support within the LGBT community is as shocking as is the level of prejudice and discrimination within the LGBT community towards autistic people - all of this is going to present serious problems in the coming years with an ageing population of autistic adults beyond state pension age, in terms of the quality of life that we will have - I cut all ties with the LGBT community 18 years ago and I returned to my traditional Catholic faith, as I have extended family in Rural Ireland and I’ve come to realise that what carries me through and what is important to me is my Catholic faith - I personally believe that autism is in some ways an advantage, as it enables us to see with clarity the truth of a given situation, such as we have seen with Covid - focusing on real facts and on the truth, it makes us immune to brainwashing and indoctrination that so impacts everyone else around us