Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm a 63 year old female and live in North Yorkshire. I worked as a nurse but am now retired. Never married and don't have any children. Realised about 10 years ago that I had A.S. but felt it wasn't really appropriate to be professionally diagnosed. Some other family members are also affected but, like me, are high-functioning, except for one cousin who is profoundly autistic. It was a relief in many ways to realise that I was on the autistic spectrum as explained lots of things about myself that I had found puzzling such as hypersensitivity to noise, hating going to parties etc. When I was younger nothing seemed to be known about Aspergers and I wonder how different my life would have been if I knew then what I know now. Are there other people in the same situation?
Hi explorer
Thanks very much for your reply. I can relate to everything you say. I don't think I would have been as adventurous as I have been at various times in my life if I'd known about the AS earlier. As you say, the main impact has been on maintaining relationships and, in my case anyway, finding lots of social situations difficult. I do think there's a case for people like us who are able to work and live independently not to make a big issue of the AS. I think I heard something about Temple Grandin holding that view and saying that we should concentrate on our skills. The trouble is that a lot of people seem to have problems accepting someone who is a bit 'different', perhaps just slightly odd or eccentric. The real question is just who exactly is 'normal'.