Hello

Hello Stephen, welcome to the site.

How have you managed since the diagnosis? A lot of people here report trouble accepting the result (imposter syndrome or stigma surrounding it) while some have trouble working out who they believe they really are.

Accepting the lable is a bit of a challange in itself.

No need to reply, I just wanted to make you feel welcome.

Hello Iain, thank you for your warm welcome.

Managing since my diagnosis has been hit and miss. One the one hand, I have a few more doors open to me, but on the other hand I feel there is a stigma, self awareness about being autistic is presenting a multitude of challenges that are too many to list, that and imposter syndrome as you said. I feel exactly that way.

Thank you for responding.

Hello Iain, thank you for your warm welcome.

Managing since my diagnosis has been hit and miss. One the one hand, I have a few more doors open to me, but on the other hand I feel there is a stigma, self awareness about being autistic is presenting a multitude of challenges that are too many to list, that and imposter syndrome as you said. I feel exactly that way.

Thank you for responding.

I will come back to you on this one Iain if I may? I have very poor quality of sleep and my brain doesn't shut up even at the best of times. I would like to give you a proper response. One thing I will say is, my masking had gotten so bad (before I knew that I had been doing it since I was 11) I developed articulate speech and a posh accent that I cannot turn off if I am around people 50+. It's automatic, but part of me enjoys speaking that way.

I think the media itself has it's good and bad points. One being that anyone younger than 50 is a hoodlum and so that was what made me begin properly immersing myself in sounding more proficient at the spoken word, including the way I speak to the point of sounding almost like Douglas Murray or Noel Coward, sometimes both.

It just happens and I can't stop it. So there is always the worry of keeping up appearances, addressing people in different ways pertaining to how they are. My friend Jamie is the only one who isn't offended when I speak in a Cockney accent to him. I haven't seen him in years, he moved back to London in the latter of 2021/early 2022. 

I am exhausted from all of this typing. It's not your fault, it's 2:43am and I fear going to bed knowing song clips and short sentences from different media and real life conversations will start playing on repeat etc.

Take care my friend. I will try and pick this up tomorrow. :)

MrProblematic said:

on the other hand I feel there is a stigma

This is one thing that really dissapoints me about society. It seems anything related to mental health is stigmatised and in spite of almost 15% of the population being neurodiverse (ok only 2% is autistic) then they still have to treat us like the plague.

At least the media is making progress in normalising us - think Big Bang Theory, The Good Doctor, A-Typical etc.

It doesn't really help those of us who have been masking for most of our lives though - any sudden change from us or announcing our diagnosis and we are treated like it is a joke or we are doing it to "be trendy"..

My approach is we have to help ourselves and one another as best as we are able.

On that note, are there any of the autistic traits you are finding more of a challenge than the others?

For me it is not enjoying socialising. I used to deal with people all day, every day as an IT support manager and it was exhausting. I had to use scripting to keep up the mask without burning out and managed it for 32 years in the end until I retired in my mid 50s to get out the rat race.