Hi, everyone.

Hello and welcome to the 'Latelings' club.

Im in my fifties and was diagnosed two years ago. It was and is still a bit daunting.

Others have given some good advice, there is no pressure to join in so take your time, browse the posts and if you a brave enough start a thread (only joking we don't bite!).

I think the song lyric "I'm not lost but I dunno where I am" kinda sums up the feeling.

Hi Nebula & Doggy. Welcome.

I'm newly diagnosed and new here too and feeling lost and lonely. This is my only online presence and I agree it is scary. You have done a brave thing just being here, it's a huge step.

I like the advice that DormouseAtRest_25 gives. I've found this place really helpful but also a little bit overwhelming at times (threads where people are in so much distress) so I'm trying to dip in and out and see how that goes. 

Hope to chat soon.

Welcome Nebula.

There are so many of us late diagnosed, or late self-identified / self-realised, here within our community that you will even sometimes notice people refer to themselves as a member of the "latelings".

Sorry to hear that you are feeling rather lost right now - hopefully, before long, you will begin to feel comfortable here.

Many of us have rejected our personal participation in mainstream social media platforms (least said, soonest mended!). 

Our community here is intended to be a peer support group (not aiming to be a traditional social media platform).

Although we reflect upon and knowledge-share based upon our respective lived experiences - in the best interests of everyone's safeguarding we take care to keep things anonymised (with support from our moderation team if the need were to arise).

Guardrails:

If you are a bit unsure about a situation you either observe, or experience, or find confusing - there are two offline routes to get something further checked out by independent consideration:

1) on a post / reply / private message / profile: under "More" you can select "Flag To Moderator", or

2) you can email the Community Manager: 

CommunityManager@nas.org.uk

As a new member; I would encourage you to also periodically have another look through you profile setting options - e.g. you can decide / amend things to suit yourself such as whether you wish to accept friend requests, engage in private messages and which notifications you receive.  (You can update those types of settings to suit yourself as you experience your engagement with our community here).

It is also completely up to you to what degree, to which frequency of participation and with whom you choose to engage - you can suit yourself / available energy / time constraints - without any expectations or pressure from fellow community members.

Generally speaking, we "get it" - as Autistic people: none of us can be like the automaton bunny on a well known battery brand TV advert all of the time!

Hi, Nebula, and welcome!

This is my only "online presence", too, but it's not terrifying at all. There's an innate understanding here about how we can all be very different and still just get along. I hope you'll find it helpful.

Hi Nebula and welcome to the community! 

There are plenty of other late-diagnosed autistic folks here, so you're in good company! 

It can feel daunting here at first (I felt the same), but you can just ask questions, comment, share, vent, or just lurk as you wish - all at your own pace.

Hi and welcome to the community. You don't really have an "online presence" here, as it's all anonymous and you can choose how much you share. I hope you enjoy chatting with us.

Hello. There's nothing to be scared about really.

It will soon become familiar.

Hello Nebula. Welcome to the community!

I am in my 60s and was diagnosed only nine months ago. 

We have diverse interests here and all sorts of topics come up for conversation. I hope you enjoy being with us.