Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello
I'm Pegg, in my 50's and believe that I'm autistic. My G.P. agrees with me and has referred me for assessment although I understand that I'll have to wait a year or more to be assessed.
Autism appears to run in my family. My brother did not speak until he was 7 and struggled to read. He had meltdowns, intense interests and was and is extremely literal. Two of his children have been diagnosed with ASD. My father was almost certainly autistic although never diagnosed.
Despite all this, it didn't occur to me until quite recently that I might be the same! Because I wasn't focused on the idea. Whilst my brother was labeled as 'slow' as a child, I was labeled 'difficult'. I had no trouble academically and have achieved highly. I could both read and write before I started school. However, I had no friends, hated and feared socializing and spent all my time in pursuit of my interests. I was constantly berated for not fitting in by my mother, I have never managed to do that.
All my life I have been poorly judged and misunderstood. I have been assumed to be blunt, rude, careless, unfeeling, and even dishonest at times by others without just cause - all because, it seems to me, I don't fit in. I have tried so hard to hide my differences, believing that there is something wrong with me, just not understanding what.
As soon as I considered the idea that I could be autistic, everything fell into place.
From reading some of the threads here, I'm amazed to discover that there may be people like me out there! I hope to join in some of the discussions here
Hello Pegg! I'm also in my 50s and diagnosed last month. My son was diagnosed as a toddler so I'm not new to autism. I was denied diagnosis for the past 18 years. Welcome to the community! There are a lot of women seeking late diagnosis so you are not alone. Have you found any helpful resources? I can recommend some if you want.
Hi Ottilie! Thanks for your reply. My brother and neices have ASD also. I haven't found many resources but I'm pleased to have found this site, which seems interesting and useful. These message boards are enlightening to me, as I'm identifying with a lot that people say. I'm pleased I'm not alone as I often feel I am in daily life.
Please do recommend resources if you don't mind, that would be lovely
Pegg said:Please do recommend resources if you don't mind, that would be lovely
This site has a lot of great advice and links at the top of the screen under "Advice and Guidance" - it is the starting point I would recommend.
I always found having books that dug deeper into issues around autism were the most useful when i was growing my understanding of the subject - then I would search the boards here for others experiences and advice (the magnifying glass on the top right beside the Donate button).
Books I think may be of interest to you are:
Very Late Diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome - Wylie, Philip_ Beardon, Luke_ Heath, Sara (2014)ISBN 9781849054331Understanding Autism For Dummies - Stephen Shore, Linda G. Rastelli, Temple Grandin (2006)ISBN 0764525476
Women and Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Understanding Life Experiences from Early Childhood to Old Age - Sarah Hendrickx, Judith Gould (2015)ISBN 978 1 84905 547 5Autism in heels - the untold story of a female life on the spectrum - O'Toole, Jennifer Cook (2018)ISBN 9781510732841
Six-Word Lessons on Female Asperger Syndrome - 100 Lessons to Understand and Support Girls and Women with Asperger's - Tracey Cohen (2015)(no ISBN)
This site is great when it comes to getting advice on more specific things so if you can phrase questions with as much detail as you are comfortable with then it will probably get a more useful response.
We are also quite a social bunch so join in any way you want.
Thanks Iain, for the recommendations, much appreciated, I will certainly follow some of them up.