Hello, what next?

Thanks Anna.

There was a session at work for neurodiverse employees, many of things they had on the slides for autism, I found I was already doing like asking for bullet points and decisions backed up in writing. 

Wow! Great writing, thanks...

Sorry for the generic comments on your diagnostic report.

I had a similar experience re: (lack of) post diagnostic support. 

Listen to your head and heart, try to find whatever works best for you? Online support, interest groups, nature, reading, outreach staff/support organisations, etc? One size definitely doesn't fit all...

I agree. Thank you.

Report away, I've done nothing wrong. I wish you well and hope you can find peace, it's hard enough in this life.

And now I really will say no more on the matter. 

Sparkly has no need of fake accounts. She's an open book, and wears her heart on her sleeve. 

Maybe what's private should stay private. Unless spoken of much less aggressively and in attempt to work though upset with support, as a certain other person has done with great dignity. Bridges don't get mended through public hostility. I'll say no more on what is, as you've now clarified, a private matter. But you nevertheless have  put something concerning and cryptic on here. I wish you both well. 

You don't have the benefit of access to my private messages, thats why.

Thanks Sparkly :)

Apologies for the delay in replying, I just realised that reply notifications were going to my junk folder.  Recently I've mostly been playing Crusader Kings III, I tend to like games like that or Civilisation and Tropico.  I used to play some online games but not for a while.

Will check out those videos - thanks!  Good luck with the book :)

This has me very puzzled. Why would you say something so needlessly confrontational to Sparkly when she’s simply being characteristically welcoming and complimentary to make a new person feel at home? What talons? How do they need to be retracted? You’ve been supportive of other people in other threads today, one arguably blunt (if presumably jokey) comment to someone else aside. You’re clearly capable of great empathy, pleasant engagement and seeing things from another’s point of view most of the time so I hope you can see that an apology might not go amiss here. I think you’d feel better for it, I know I would if I’d said that! 

Your life seems to be in sync with mine.  I got my report last week, was pretty underwhelmed.  Half of it was just a copy of what I'd written in the questionnaire.  Which I might have written differently if I had known it was going in my permanent medical record!

And I am also coping by playing games.  I got the Oddworld collection for Christmas so I blatted through the first one of those.  What are you playing?

Also I've been watching Aucademy videos which have been kind of mind blowing.  Just watching a bunch of autistic discuss all things autism, communicating in their wonderful autistic way whilst stimming as much as they like and making room for everyone to say their part.

Oh, and forgot to say that I love your poem!  Nice analogy, and you've captured the feeling so well.  I'm also trying to write an autistic fantasy novel.  It's going slowly, but it's going.

Hi there. I just wanted to echo Shardovan's sentiments about your wonderful poem. 

And I was free just to be who I am

Just to be me

Thanks! I write to express myself quite a lot.  The last few days is the most positive I've been for a while.

Today for example I didn't beat myself up for spending all day yesterday playing a computer game, like I normally would have.  I accepted that's what I needed to do to give myself some space.

Not a big reader but just started trying to read a book called Unmasking Autism and read onee whilst waiting for diagnosis called Growing into Autism that I found helpful.

I love your poem, thanks for sharing! And welcome to the forum. I’m afraid that that light may fade back up again, as there’s no magic bullet here. Just empathic support where you can find your tribe (here!) and self-advocacy in environments where you know sensory overwhelm or masking have you like an anxious leaky battery the most. 

My report was the same. Thorough, conclusive, a helpful and relieving diagnosis. But with nothing too bespoke off the back of it - mostly numbers and websites largely pitched towards parental support with autistic kids, not adults already ‘coping’. But hopefully you’ll be able to make more sense of your life, fit all the pieces together better, and re-frame some ‘I’m bad at this stuff’ to ‘I’ve done pretty well here, considering!’ For me, that last part is the crucial one. 

Hi Joe,

Welcome to the online community - and Happy New Year.

You may find the following page on our website useful:

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-andw-guidance/topics/diagnosis/post-diagnosis-support

Best wishes,

Kevin Mod