Hello Everyone,
I'm a 51-year-old man who has self-diagnosed as autistic. I'm on the pathway to a formal diagnosis but of course it will take years. I have cleared the first few hurdles and would be surprised if I didn't get a formal diagnosis.
I have always suspected I was 'on the spectrum' and have often heard people say as much. Recently I've become more interested in this because my teenage daughter is clearly autistic. She doesn't have a formal diagnosis either and has been a bit resistant to asking for one.
I've always had great difficulty with social interactions and am much happier writing than speaking. I have some of the classic special interests (particularly chess, which I can spend whole days on) and the need for order and control in my environment. I am anxious 90% of the time. I believe both my parents were autistic. All three of us found it hard to make and keep friends and are/were prone to social faux pas.
Since the penny dropped for me that my daughter and I are autistic I have been reading everything I can about it. It explains an awful lot in my own life, and much in my daughter's, especially as she gets older. I think I have the condition that would have been called 'Asperger's' in the past. My daughter might be a bit further along the spectrum.
I am interested in learning about how to accept autism and change my lifestyle to 'go with the grain' of it. My instinct is that I might be able to make life an awful lot easier for myself and my daughter if we learn how to live as autistic people instead of trying to pass as neurotypical.
I hope to join a local group and meet other autistic people and learn more about all this.
All the best,
Richy
