Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I was diagnosed with autism in summer 2022, I am a female in my late 20's and I wanted to just introduce myself and say hi. I also wanted to ask those of you who can't work/study, what are you able to do? how do you keep yourself busy on good days? have you found anything specific that you enjoy, or that you've found beneficial? and for those of you that got back into work after periods of time off due to autism, how did you find it?
Hi!
I'm female and in my 20's too :-)
I went to university and graduated in 2020, but only got through it with support from my family, wasn't diagnosed until 2021 (after a year on the waitlist).
Worked part-time after covid lockdown, then got my first full-time job. I am quite lucky because my work are very supportive and understanding of what I struggle with, and then find ways to ensure I am doing tasks that are suited to my skillset.
It was hard to get used to being in employment in terms of being social, meetings, small talk, but for me it's really helped me learn some key life skills. It also gave me the confidence to get out of my comfort zone and do other things, like learn to drive and get my licence, do a CBT and learn to ride motorbike, attend courses and networking evenings alone...
I know life experiences are different for everyone, and everyone has different abilities, skills, support needs, but I think employment can be really helpful for personal development.
It can be tiring though especially with long days of meetings.... too many people!
Thank-you so much for your reply, it's been extremely helpful and honestly made me smile that you've achieved so much (and a lot of what I want to do!) It's beyond helpful having family to support you, that really does make the world of difference. I was chatting to my parents last night about the whole studying thing and my future as a whole because i've just been feeling super lost, and they're completely on board with what I want to try and do. I've decided I'll try open university to complete my degree (I dropped out at 19 because of my physical health problems) and see how I get on for a year. I get an extremely restless brain that needs using and because I haven't done anything in my 20's work/study wise I just get so nervous and unsure about what is the best next step for me (especially physical health wise). COVID really affected my mental health - as it did for everybody! But I'm glad I was able to get my autism diagnosis because of that awful period of time. It's been super helpful in understanding myself better, I just think it's gonna be a looooong journey.
I'm glad to hear your parents are on board with studying and helping you plan what you want to do! :-) Completely understand with feeling super lost, to be honest I think everyone is still figuring out what they want to do. Open University is definitely worth looking into, my friend is doing a part-time degree over a few years and it allows her to explore other things too along with working. :-) It is a long journey but I'm sure you will get where you want to be eventually, just be proud of where you have got to already. :-) Always here if you want to chat!