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37 and diagnosed Autistic for Christmas

ChestersDad

Hi Guys, 

Newbie here. At the grand age of 37, I received my diagnosis last week. Was actually expecting an ADHD one and not Autism but the test they did was only for Autism (?) and that came back that I am, so now I'm waiting for the ADHD one to take place.

I've bought a journal and started writing things down. Remembering stuff from the past that has really affected me but I've put on a brave face. I'm learning a lot online (any good YT channels or Podcast, please let me know!). But seriously how hard is it to know what is the real you and what is stuff you've been masking?! 

Feeling a little lost TBH, figured this was a good place to come and say hi! 

Cheers

Jimmy

Parents

  • After a good deal of thought about the subject, I have come to the conclusion that my camouflaging is as much part of myself as my autism is. Masking/camouflaging are, in essence, survival strategies for autistic people in the allistic world. As such, mine were built up through observing society and other people over my lifetime and are, in some cases, 'hard won achievements'. As long as they do not cause me distress, discarding them would be counterproductive, so I have made no effort to do so. Personally, I think the concept of unmasking is meaningless to me, just another pressure on autistic people to behave in a certain way, and we have more than enough of those.

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  • After a good deal of thought about the subject, I have come to the conclusion that my camouflaging is as much part of myself as my autism is. Masking/camouflaging are, in essence, survival strategies for autistic people in the allistic world. As such, mine were built up through observing society and other people over my lifetime and are, in some cases, 'hard won achievements'. As long as they do not cause me distress, discarding them would be counterproductive, so I have made no effort to do so. Personally, I think the concept of unmasking is meaningless to me, just another pressure on autistic people to behave in a certain way, and we have more than enough of those.

Children
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