Hi there from E, she/her. Intro and questions

Hi everyone 

Im 64 and just this month been confirmed autistic with the diagnosis after 8 hours assessment over two days (NHS). It’s not unexpected but huge to take in. My situation is complicated by comorbid bipolar affective disorder dx in 1998, but more relevantly it feels a personality disorder which is in the the process of being assessed. My psychiatrist has put EUPD on my records and I’m already underway with long term 1-1 psychology but the dx doesn’t seem to become official until the psychology team confirm the psychiatrist’s opinion.

I’m really struggling to find trustworthy advice and a calm non judgmental online community, I do have a very good real life support network with plenty of good friends and a loving partner  but none of them are experts or with lived experience of autism. So there are several particular things I would like to learn about and maybe discuss here as follows:

Nightmares: I get these most nights and they are destroying me  I have c-ptsd which is likely the root of the probable PD and definitely the cause of the nightmares 

Language: I am coming to understand that some language is unacceptable to the autism community but am really pretty much in the dark so guidance would be appreciated. Id add though that as a writer with numerous books, in The Indy, a local newspaper column plus countless appearances in magazines etc I am very defensive about my right to use the language I choose, though do appreciate that appropriate for audience is critical 

Comorbids: As I said above I have a number of comorbid smi’s and would like to chat here with similar others, particularly anyone with a PD as I learnt in my recent stay on a psych ward that it was the interaction between the ASD and the PD which led to my latest suicide attempt 

Thanks for reading 

E