Published on 12, July, 2020
So this is really hard but on completion of the 6 mandatory ASD units, I felt like I was reliving my life. yes I am an educator but there were so many similarities for example, I struggle with both friendships and relationships, I don't link to be around to many people, I have become obsessed with education and connect to my autistic learners like I completely understand them, I am over empathetic, treat my children like my friends and feel I am completely different to many of my peers, on many occasions I struggled to complete courses and left, I cant watch anything bad on TV and I like bland food as strong smells make me sick.
I can only eat hot food and mainly hot drinks, I prefer the company of my pets and I over analyse everything, especially people and wonder what they think, or worry that they think I'm unusual.
I don't know what to do!
Hi cerimac. Welcome!
I hope you don't mind - I copied and pasted the reply I posted to Jenn as I don't want to type out all information again. It's relevant to you both...
One of the best resources for female and non-binary autistic people that I've found is Squarepeg :
https://squarepeg.community/podcast/
Amy, the creator, is a late diagnosed former teacher. Her podcast is now in season 8, so lots of episodes to choose from.
As for diagnosis, wait times are long as more and more people are becoming aware of autism and then questioning if they are. There are not enough assessors to keep up with demand. My son was diagnosed 18 years ago and the wait time was 6 months (it's meant to be 3 months). I was told wait times for my diagnosis would be 4 years in the area I live in. I decided to go private. This isn't possible for everyone, and it's perfectly fine for you to self-identify. The autism community that I know of does not discriminate against those that have a medical diagnosis and those that don't. However, you will not have legal protection as an autistic person without formal diagnosis. So you can take your time to research and see how you feel or go to your GP and try to get on a waiting list, depending on how you feel and what you want from diagnosis. Talking with your GP is the first step and it helps if you've made notes or have it clear in your mind why you believe you are autistic.
Hope that helps somewhat.