Welp… Some will just sit back and say “Yea, I get that.”, much like I did. Some will also think “Really?”, again, just like I did. At the age of 48 I’ve learned I’m autistic. It’s been with me for ever; going all the way back to some of my very first memories; it’s been there.
It seems that what I’ve been doing is called masking. Learning that 99% of my stress came from constantly putting nearly all of my energy into hiding or trying to not stand out has changed my entire life. I’m not using that turn-of-phrase lightly either. I’ll say that again: My life has been changed by simply learning to STOP masking.
I have learned it’s OK for me to do a lot of things that either I thought weren’t “OK” or that I simply didn’t know were just part of how I function. I’ve even found things that I didn’t realize I was doing to stim that now I’ve learned to embrace and - OMG … SO … COMFORTING …
I can also say that I’m not sure where I’d be without a partner like my wife. Not only has she been a partner, teacher and student through this, she’s also embraced and encouraged my discovery. I love you.
For those of you playing along at home - I’m now up to 3: Epilepsy, Strabismus (yea, learned that name now…) and most recently discovered superpower: autism.