Published on 12, July, 2020
diagnosed at 62. it's been extremely difficult - losing many of the few friends i'd accumulated. i'd always been extremely anxious at work, and was a mid level tech. i think i was mid level only because i 'looked' and 'acted' like a tech guy, lol... so, kind of a charade. found out i have many extreme sensitivities, but that kind of allows me to make sense out of why i've been so anxious my entire life. i've also developed some stereotypical asd (don't mean to offend anyone) habits or mannerisms post-diagnosis. weird! like, i'll literally immerse myself in new hobbies, just inhaling them (currently surf fishing) like a ravenous maniac... the few remaining acquaintances i have ... i guess they have to accept my asd. it's part of who i am, and i try not to bore them w it, but i feel i'm a different person now, frankly, than i was pre--diagnosis.
oh, and i found out although i've always been completely taciturn in my life, now i can go on and on....... so i have to watch that. oh, and i'm a yank, from california. hope that's ok.
u can have nothing and still get the treatment u need in NHS but as the population has got older some of the waiting lists for operations has got long eg 1/2year wait
it's not that bad, really. the usa afaik has super expensive medical care, with poor results for those receiving that care... our basic system is screwed up. i hope nhs is better!
medicare looks like a nightmare of a system
i was diagnosed at the university of california, and i have medicare... i guess that is like nhs??? i *think* private and medicare go in the same lines, so to speak, but idk. maybe they look at medicare people differently than private pay (more profit?). a medicare diag costs quite a bit --- but it's manageable, i think. medicare does cover my therapy, which is very affordable, for me, i guess the hardest part was finding people who know asd. so i zoom in to UC and stanford univ. therapy's been so helpful, altho life has been so hard.
omg.... amazing... i thought i was one of the few........................ glad they are here and upbeat... my diag has been so difficult, i thought maybe they should've lied about it, and said i was NT.... i'll look forward to hearing from others - esp those who are older.
The diagnostician's comment was that people in their eighties had been in the same assessment room. Actually, there are quite a few people our age on this site. And they generally have quite a lot to say, and seem to be mostly upbeat. I find many of my issues quite amusing.
everything is ok apart from being american,,,,,,,,, I'm joking of course
i am happy u got a diagnosis
are u currently i the states ? where u diagnosed there ? did u have to pay ? How does USA handle someone who needs a diagnosis I mean here we can go to the NHS and wait, or fork out money and go private
ty senor.. wow - i think? it's really rare to be diagnosed in one's sixties, or nearly, as we were. volunteering is cool. i tell my nephews and niece that when you volunteer, they *always* treat you nice. (almost always, some places simply.... stink. and just stop volunteering there.) california does have many, many volunteer opps - one can simply look on craigs list, for ex. my volunteering has been: feldenkrais for seniors, tax prep, teaching chess, serving lunches to japanese seniors. you mentioning you're from a former UK place - hey, i forgot! we were too!!! lol a lot...............
ty for the welcome... it's so refreshing, as in typical life, welcomes are rare, frankly. i guess i generally assume many will backfire, once aspects of my asd come out. the first two or is it three years have been so difficult. still figuring out what i am, what sensitivities, how to communicate better, and how to i guess winnow out who my true friends are, and who the folk who'd, well, just as soon not be around me are. altho it's been hard, really hard, i *think* it's better to know what 'it' is, than not know what it is.
Welcome aboard! (I'm a bit of a Raspian myself, at 64.) Diagnosis only three years ago after I self-identified two years earlier. Everything you say here makes sense to me. However, I see no need to keep feeling like an imposter after I officially retired. There are a 101 things I would now like to volunteer for or even restart work to do. I'm not really a different person, but I do have a much better idea how work-related stress, anxiety and depression can be dealt with. I sort of imagine that California has its fair share of reemployment and volunteering ops for older people. That's not true here, so I'm having to look in some fairly unconventional directions to find interesting stuff to do.
I don't think anyone here will worry much that you are not in the UK. I'm in South East Asia myself (but of UK origin.) Adults on the spectrum here are probably best-advised to remain silent about their condition. People here don't want to know anything about Adulthood ASD, so it is all self-help here really. I manage fairly well, but could really do with a few extra folks to talk to outside of the house.
I'm 3.5 months in. The first two months were hard, i was totally consumed, reading loads, making sense of my past. Then suddenly I felt 'me' was coming back. I've been told the first twelve months still involve a lot of settling into it, and even another three then to fully assimulate it. It's been good for me. Yes, some mannerisms have been accentuated, but mostly it's been about explaining stuff to myself.
It's nice being on here, so stick around!