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Diagnosed with autism last week

JMDA

I’m in my early 30’s and was diagnosed with autism last week following a diagnosis of ADHD several weeks before.

If I’m honest I expected ADHD but autism not so much, I wouldn’t say I am very different from ordinary but I have struggled since a child with fitting in with people and keeping conversations going. My wife who has a lot of experience run the area isn’t surprised but I’m not sure how to take it. 

I’ve also informed my work but I’m not sure what to do with this information they ask me if there’s anything I need but being put on the spot like that is just difficult and I don’t really know what to say. I have gradually struggled as I’ve got older with certain things, concentration, patience, anxiety, social situations. I let small things completely change my mood - just people not responding to a text or being blunt completely puts me in a spiral. 

I’m not really sure what I’m asking, I’m just struggling. 

  • There are two perspectives around reasonable adjustments:

    1) from the employee viewpoint and experience:

    www.autism.org.uk/.../what-are-reasonable-adjustments-and-when-can-they

    2) from the employer's outlook:

    www.autism.org.uk/.../reasonable-adjustments

  • Hi. I'm in my early 40s and was diagnosed with autism in the last few weeks and ADHD last year. It makes sense of a lot of struggles I've had in life. I'm going through similar things (though I've been 90% sure the past couple of years that I'm autistic). My immediate reaction was to book an occupational health appointment at work, but then decided to sit with it for a couple of weeks and think about what I need first. I've ended up being signed off work - I think I'm going to speak to occupational health when I go back, and ask them what they might suggest (I'm guessing they will have had other neurodivergent employees approach them in the past). In the meantime I'm reading up a bit more on autism and unmasking, but trying not absorb too much at once, as it's overwhelming. It's a tricky time - good luck with everything!

  • Good morning from America, JMDA!

    Hey, I’m an employment specialist for people with disabilities, so I might be able to help on the work area. For me in my current role, I don’t need much accommodations, but I also let my employer know so that they’d be aware. It has helped, because I’ve gotten out of a few trips to the nearby metropolis since they know I can’t handle driving in traffic very well. So sometimes it’s good to let them know even if you don’t need accommodations in case something comes up that you need a little additional help with.

    You could also check out https://askjan.org/. It’s an American site that lists accommodations you can ask for depending on your disability. So if you’d like to know what you could theoretically ask for, this is a great site to peruse.