At work, I’ve worked with a LOT of autistic people. We had about twenty on staff over the years, all over the spectrum.
People always say how working with autistic people can be difficult and that there might be challenges. There’s even training on ‘how to work with autistic people’. But I found quite the opposite - autistic people are a joy to work with for me. We can talk for ages about interesting things, but we can also enjoy a bit of quiet time.
Maybe it’s because I’m an introvert, but I find dealing with the ‘normal’ people at work much more exhausting. Working with the autistic people is a breeze. Most of the things you read about as ‘challenges’ make perfect sense to me. As a result, we run a VERY productive department.
So either I’m autistic, or autistic-adjacent enough to where I don’t see challenges, but just people.
I’m in my early 40’s so a diagnosis wouldn’t really change things for me anyway. But my sister who works as a psychologist basically told me that I’ve got enough traits of it that she wouldn’t be surprised if I was autistic myself.
When i got diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago, ny psychologist mentioned that I’m probably on the spectrum as well, but that getting an official diagnosis wouldn’t really help anything and she wasn’t sure I would even get one.
But having the realisation really opened my eyes though, I now understand better why certain situations always made me irritable and made me have much more peace with my own limitations.
I always knew I was a bit ‘off’, and knowing I’m on the spectrum kind of felt like the last pieces of the puzzle fell in place.
Some people definitely can benefit from a diagnosis, even later in life. Especially if it’s the missing ‘piece of the puzzle’ like you mentioned.
For me, the things that might feed into a specific diagnosis also are just… the way I am. It’s not like I’m suddenly going to work on them because now there’s a label attached. They’re the quirks that make me, me.
I grew up in an era where autism basically didn’t exist. You just were a bit - or a lot - weird. And you had to conform or deal with it on your own. Nobody was ‘on the spectrum’ when I attended school. So I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a lot of adults out there who have missing puzzle pieces.
I can relate.
At work, I’ve worked with a LOT of autistic people. We had about twenty on staff over the years, all over the spectrum.
People always say how working with autistic people can be difficult and that there might be challenges. There’s even training on ‘how to work with autistic people’. But I found quite the opposite - autistic people are a joy to work with for me. We can talk for ages about interesting things, but we can also enjoy a bit of quiet time.
Maybe it’s because I’m an introvert, but I find dealing with the ‘normal’ people at work much more exhausting. Working with the autistic people is a breeze. Most of the things you read about as ‘challenges’ make perfect sense to me. As a result, we run a VERY productive department.
So either I’m autistic, or autistic-adjacent enough to where I don’t see challenges, but just people.
I’m in my early 40’s so a diagnosis wouldn’t really change things for me anyway. But my sister who works as a psychologist basically told me that I’ve got enough traits of it that she wouldn’t be surprised if I was autistic myself.
Same here, similar age.
When i got diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago, ny psychologist mentioned that I’m probably on the spectrum as well, but that getting an official diagnosis wouldn’t really help anything and she wasn’t sure I would even get one.
But having the realisation really opened my eyes though, I now understand better why certain situations always made me irritable and made me have much more peace with my own limitations.
I always knew I was a bit ‘off’, and knowing I’m on the spectrum kind of felt like the last pieces of the puzzle fell in place.
Some people definitely can benefit from a diagnosis, even later in life. Especially if it’s the missing ‘piece of the puzzle’ like you mentioned.
For me, the things that might feed into a specific diagnosis also are just… the way I am. It’s not like I’m suddenly going to work on them because now there’s a label attached. They’re the quirks that make me, me.
I grew up in an era where autism basically didn’t exist. You just were a bit - or a lot - weird. And you had to conform or deal with it on your own. Nobody was ‘on the spectrum’ when I attended school. So I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a lot of adults out there who have missing puzzle pieces.