I feel like I won a golden ticket out of a lifelong mindfuck of masking even to myself.
The experiences of other women diagnosed later in life have rung very familiar, and I've been helped by their perspectives and advice! But the answer seemed too convenient, felt too much like hoping for a license to malinger. "If I blink, I'll lose discipline and everything will be fucked!" <--- as you can see, this may change very little in my outward life, but it also changes everything because it's absolution from failing normalcy + objective input on my actual strengths and weaknesses.
but it also changes everything because it's absolution from failing normalcy + objective input on my actual strengths and weaknesses.
YES (speaking as someone whose life was changed by getting diagnosed with autism as an adult).
Btw, if you are not familiar by this anthem (which is from a comedy show but nearly made me cry when I first heard it, because Rachel Bloom knows this shit):
Oh, also, the warning I have been giving to a friend who's just realized she's autistic: don't be surprised if sometimes you whiplash from relief and joy into searing rage and/or grief that apparently you've been doing your entire fucking life on hard mode and nobody told you or helped you. It's a thing.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2022-07-14 06:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-14 11:17 am (UTC)The experiences of other women diagnosed later in life have rung very familiar, and I've been helped by their perspectives and advice! But the answer seemed too convenient, felt too much like hoping for a license to malinger. "If I blink, I'll lose discipline and everything will be fucked!" <--- as you can see, this may change very little in my outward life, but it also changes everything because it's absolution from failing normalcy + objective input on my actual strengths and weaknesses.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-14 11:56 am (UTC)YES (speaking as someone whose life was changed by getting diagnosed with autism as an adult).
Btw, if you are not familiar by this anthem (which is from a comedy show but nearly made me cry when I first heard it, because Rachel Bloom knows this shit):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uic_3vlI5BE
no subject
Date: 2022-07-14 03:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-14 04:19 pm (UTC)Oh, also, the warning I have been giving to a friend who's just realized she's autistic: don't be surprised if sometimes you whiplash from relief and joy into searing rage and/or grief that apparently you've been doing your entire fucking life on hard mode and nobody told you or helped you. It's a thing.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-14 02:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-14 03:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-14 03:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-14 03:23 pm (UTC)