Late-Diagnosed Autistic (at age 40!) 

I'm honestly glad people are talking about late diagnosis like ADHD, autism, and similar topics. Edit: I'm also neurodivergent and this makes me happy.

You look great at 40 and you still have a long life ahead of you.

Autistic burnout is tough, I’m dealing with that too. It’s gotten better in recent years tho. You’ll find your way, sounds like you’re taking some necessary steps already, I’m rooting for you! ♡

Thanks for sharing. I’m going going through something similar. It feels good to hear about others going through similar experiences. Late in life diagnosis/realization is tough.

Welcome to the club! I was diagnosed at 37. Oddly enough, I am 40 now.

so sorry to hear you're in a depressive episode right now 💙 i am also neurodivergent & am dealing with anger issues regarding past treatment / lack of recognition. i've been in a state of extreme burnout for many years that came to a head in 2020 & i'm currently not working. i feel like i'm slowly healing, but it's taking a very long time & i'm not sure how long i can maintain my health when i have to go back into the work world. wishing you all the best & hope you are able to get the help and accomodations you're in need of!

I am 32 and figured out i am autistic a few months ago and it really is hard to reconcile the memories of poor treatment and knowing that you didnt get what you needed as far as support at that time. Part of my healing is knowing that these things are often genetic and my father likely has autism and my mother has high anxiety.. and neither recieved the care they needed either.. so.. it doesnt make it better, but it does help with understanding and it helps to turn my attention to making sure i dont inflict unhealthy coping on other people. For unmasking - literally just try to have a get together with a lot of autistic people diagnosed early in life that are more at ease with their unmasking. Cheap, though scheduling isnt easy lol

Sorry to hear what you are going through..if it means anything, it's very validating to hear your story. Autistic burnout sounds very real, and something I have and really struggle with. It's affected my life greatly. No one in my family has ever understood. In the last few years I've very much been wondering what is wrong with me..why am I so affected by things, why do I have these shut downs. 😔 It's incredibly hard to no be hard on myself. I've done so much research over the years. I'm 36 now and it's hard. Very hard. I was raised that you don't talk about mental health and you just deal. You don't quit your job and you don't get divorced and my mom always explaining to people that I'm just..sensitive or I just don't like loud sounds or ...whatever. I also don't know how it's possible for me to be happy. To not be lost. (Because we are not severe enough to get support.) Is kinda the story of my life.

Congrats!!! I started wondering this for myself in the summer of 2021, and got my official diagnosis earlier this year when I turned 33. And no, we are not a disease! I relate so much to your story. I was chasing complex PTSD symptoms all of my life and my longtime therapist and I started wondering if there wasn't something more. I've struggled with high masking and burnout my whole life, almost didn't graduate high school, didn't do traditional college. Things at work became untenable when COVID came, because I worked directly with people. I'm grappling with all the emotions as well. I'm still glad I found this part of myself. I'll quit rambling but as far as life coaching, there's a channel here on RU-vid called The Thought Spot that's created by an autistic person. I really like her videos. A lot of help I've found has come from doing my own research, watching channels on here and connecting to people with similar experiences. Wishing you the very best on your journey!!!!

I'm sorry you're going through a depressive time

First of all, welcome to the tribe! Second of all, I relate too much to your experiences for this to be a surprise. You might like the book: "Unmasking Autism" by Devon Price, PhD (who is also trans). I found his work deeply validating.

I was diagnosed with Level 2 social/emotion/communication & Level 2 restricted/repetitive/sensory, at age 25. I'm non‐binary, aro & grey‐ace and have been following you for awhile. The sadness and anger are what i went through after my diagnosis. I'm depressed atm mainly because i don't know what's trauma and what's autism, which are so deeply intertwined bc a lot of my traumas are due to masking and trying to survive with the incorrect "roadmap" (assumed allistic'ness).

Oh my so, i just found your channel and well: i am autistic, adhder, a trans man, ace probs aromantic too, diagnosed with ptsd, poly, vegan... many labels haha. But i want to thank you for speaking about your experiences because it´s so lonely to be so many things that are so uncommon, or misunderstood, or unknown, or even hated... like, it´s heavy, and it´s so exciting to find more people in their own journeys with those things and themselves. I see you and hope the best for you. The feelings are really really heavy and i too had a hard time right after knowing each of those things about myself. 🤍🤍

Hi Celeste. New to your channel. I'm getting assessed next month and have been experiencing the same exact thing with overwhelm when I try to sit down to work & shutting down, and it getting worse. Thank you for this video.

thanks for sharing this Celeste. I’m sorry you’ve had so many years of not knowing and not having what you needed. Hope you find the supports you need.

I'm self diagnosed autistic.

Sorry to hear you're struggling at the moment. I hope things get more manageable soon. I've often wondered if I'm somewhere on the spectrum, but like you describe, it hasn't seemed worth getting a diagnosis because it's not treatable.

I was diagnosed at 19 and even then I wasn't able to get any support. The success of the autistic individual highly depends on the type of support they are able to receive. I'd like to recommend my ball from 5below. it's a squishy ball thats full of water or something and it wiggles and it's jiggly like jello :D If you need a reference point I did post a short on my channel about it xD

I am sorry to hear that you are not doing very well. I understand everything that you are processing, though. I am 47 and self diagnosed last year after my youngest son was diagnosed at 15 and I started researching ASD, as one with ASD would do. It’s difficult. It explains a lot but I am really, really sad for my past self and all of the struggle, burn out, anxiety, depression, and other issues that I had that other people were dismissive about. I don’t think that I will get a professional diagnosis. It’s too expensive, there are no accommodations available for me, and I am POSITIVE that I am ASD. No doubt in my mind. I hope that things begin to improve for you. I would be interested in a video in your assessment process if you would be willing to share it.

I’m sure you’ve seen this already, but Yo Samdy Sam lives in the Netherlands, and has spoken about her positive experience with an autism coach. Not sure exactly what it would be called in the US, because the government doesn’t pay for it here, probably, but it exists!

My bestie is Autistic I love him so much and I love you ❤️

Awwwww you are trans that's cute 🥺

Never happened.

Hi hi! If you are still looking for a coach, I highly recommend the team at Autism Personal Coach. They are based in Ohio and can work with folks virtually. Im working with a coach on their team, I live in Colorado, and am happy with the approach they take and the quick connection i felt with the coach assigned to me. Big hugs your way! 🤟🏻🤓🫶🏼🦄✨🌙