AuDHD diagnosed ADHD age 40 and ASD age 62. I happen to be terrible at masking but my ADHD masked my ASD…since I come across like a golden retriever…dumb, hyperactive but loveable and loyal. Make friends fasts, lose them fast bc I say inappropriate things, forget plans and promises I make, miss all hints and body language, take what people say literally and never shut up/interrupt people constantly. I get fired or drummed out of work places because of “missing the memo” ie missing the point when given vague directions. My siblings can’t accept my ASD…since they have many of the same behaviors and challenges so see these things as “just the weirdness of our family”. Many PhDs in our family. My sisters have been diagnosed with depression and bi-polar but hopefully someday will figure out that it’s a co-morbidity with the ASD brain. Most people just see them as weird, smart, and anti-social cat-ladies who never married. They both would have been burned as witches in Salem.
AuDHD diagnosed at 52. Was told I was high masking and that I’d got this far in life due to my intellect. When I hit menopause I was unable to mask, leading to a couple of mental hospital admissions before diagnosis. Four years on I’m learning to accept who I really am 😊
I just got my late autism diagnosis on the 22nd of may 2024. Just 8 days ago. I'm 43 years old. I'm forever grateful for autistic youtubers like you. It means the world to me. Thank you. 🏆❤
Congratulations on your diagnosis! I hope that it will lead you on a journey of self discovery (as it did for me). Thanks so much for watching🙏and I'm glad it was helpful.😘
Loved your video thank you. I am a late diagnosis female autistic and proud too. When i was diagnosed, my whole life suddenly made sense to me. So many of your words in the video echo my own exactly. I now celebrate the wonderful processes of my mind that make me so different and enjoy my life with so much more self acceptance. I think odd is cool and most people who i tell that i am autistic accept it well and like the autistic 'me'. Strangely it is my own family who dont believe it.
Diagnosed a few weeks ago at 51. I am autistic with ADD. So relieved to know why I have felt different my entire life. Still struggling and have days where I have meltdowns and am burned out, but at least now I know why. Thank you for sharing, I’m enjoying hearing about other women who are also late diagnosed!
Thank you for this video. So wonderful to listen to. I, too, was diagnosed with Autism later in life, at 54yrs and my eldest son was diagnosed in his 20s , he and I are very similar and so autism never crossed my mind, he is excellent at masking so nothing was picked up at school either. But my youngest son also autistic is very different to me and I battled with doctors, health advisers and schools to finally get his diagnosis when he was 10. It was during his process that my eldest and I started to think we were autistic too. My son found some tests on line which agreed and he started the process for his diagnosis. When I mentioned to friends that I thought I was autistic I was told I'm not unless i get diagnosed! And when I said I was thinking I would get tested their response was "your only doing it to get attention"!. Anyway my son gave me the confidence and I was finally diagnosed 3 years ago. The best decision I've ever made. Everything you said was as if I was saying it, I am proud I'm autistic and I have told many people, I am the person I am today because I'm autistic. My autism has given me the determination to do the things and go to the places I've done/been to. I hope all of this has made sense, I'm not very good at writing what I want to say. Thank you. 😊
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! Isn't it amazing how you got two of those questions I got? Well done for persisting with your youngest (and yourself), it really is worth it in the end. From one proud Autistic person to another:😘🤗
Thank you for disclosing and being visible. Both of my adult children have autism. My father has it. My husband has it. I believe the more people disclose and the less we mask, the better the world will be both for everyone.
@@ItsMissRini also my workplace department of 20 people, 4 of us are autistic. I never thought I could know so many folks who can relate to my daily struggles and experiences
@@autisticMargo How cool!! The only other Autistic person I know (in real life) is my sister and thank goodness for her. Online Autistic communities are really helpful to be able to relate to other people who face similar struggles as me. I think it helps with not feeling so "other" as I often do.
@ItsMissRini wow. I've always known other autistic people at school, church, etc. I'm 50 and live in the US. I'm sorry if you and your sister feel alone. Yes, online support is great ! I'm glad your channel was recommended by yt to me today.
I'm so glad I found this! I am recently diagnosed autistic and have a lot to learn about it, know very little in spite of having a couple of workmates who are. I have some anger at feeling the need to reassess my entire life. But it does explain a lot to me about the ways people have responded to me over the year, my difficulty communicating etc....
I had a bit of anger initially too, because I felt like things could have been so much easier, but in the end I'm content with my life. Congratulations on your diagnosis and an exciting journey of discovery🥳
Both of my daughters were diagnosed in when they were about 20 (both now mid- 20s) and we now realize my husband is also austistic (though he doesn't have an official diagnosis yet).
I found it really interesting when I found out about the genetic link. It makes you start looking at other family members and wondering.🤔 Thank you so much for watching.
yay, its great to see people my age talking about autism. i hope we can move away from the pathogizing language in the DSM and be participants in the neurodiversity movement.
You are so cute and sweet! 🥰 This was very informative. My son was diagnosed on the spectrum when he was 16 (about 8 years ago)- it took years to finally get that clear diagnosis since he also had a seizure condition that he thankfully "grew out of" when he hit puberty. It was actually a relief when we learned he was mildly autistic. By that time, after he went through puberty he was like a completely different kid! Before he was very agitated, he did horribly all throughout his school years, communication was really tough. But in the last couple years of high school, it was almost like a switch flipped, he was learning, he found topics of interest that intrigued him, teachers were stopping me in the halls and telling me he's a totally different student now! and WOW can he tell you a thing or two about any time point in history on just about any country in the world! LOL! His older brother (who is very close and protective of him) coined a phrase that he is "autistically smart" - not meant to make fun of him but just to keep things light. It works. My son is doing well in life. It's been hard for me to let him stretch his wings, because I've always had to be the protector, but he has a job, got his drivers license last year, bought his own car and he will be starting a new job in construction this summer. It's been quite a journey so far! I'm VERY proud of him! 💖 It's really nice to hear you talk about your experiences too! Thank you for this video!
Thank you for sharing, I am sure it wasn't easy to do. The more you know about yourself can only help you be the best you possible (and you are amazing!).
Lots of rational well voiced replies - beautifully voiced succinctly by the diverse Miss Rini. Did I expect anything else - absolutely not. Thank you for bringing comprehension to our world.
Your video was great. Thank you. Several people in my family show autistic traits of various kinds and I have been watching RU-vid vidros on tne subject to gain a better understanding. Orion Kelly's channel called That Autistic Guy is a good one too.
I'm debating attempting the process of getting a proper diagnosis, turning 39 in just a few months. I also have diagnosed ADHD which I didn't get till I was 28, and I've half suspected ASD in the time since, but the gal I went to at the time said I was 'too emotionally expressive', I hear the diagnostic process has improved in the last decade, so maybe I'll have better luck now...
I saw some psychologist who treats autism in kids and he talked about how they think about things and when asked about to draw a picture of the play ground the autistic men drew a picture of the just the play ground, the autistic women drew a picture of the play ground and 1 single girl which became like a social special interest of them that in order to avoid social rejection which agreeable people do less well with, so they try to copy everything about this 1 girl to fit in. One of the reasons they identified later
Thank you for sharing such valuable information. It must have been very hard for you all those years. No wonder a diagnosis was liberating! Have a great weekend xxx
