Life after a neuro-diversity diagnosis - fact versus fiction

As it is World Autism Acceptance Day, it would seem entirely appropriate to share five things that I have realised since getting my full diagnosis (it turns out I joined the queue twice - greedy me).

#1 It's the start of a new puzzle not the end of a previous one.

Diagnosis is not finding the final piece of the puzzle; rather, it is the start of an entirely new one.

If I am honest, I thought that understanding the why would be the key, and then I could make sense of everything and live happily ever after.?

Sadly, the reality is almost the opposite, which makes sense in the past; being diagnosed sets up a new set of even more complex challenges and problems, at least for me, which to some degree has made things more challenging day to day.

When you understand why, then you also better know what is to come, but often, that is hard and sets my anxiety on fire.

#2 Medication is no magic fix.

I wish it was. I imagined it would be. But sadly, again, reality bites.?

For me, medication helps me be a little calmer, but nothing more, and that's only when I remember to take it.?

#3 People are still people, regardless.

Again, perhaps naive, but I thought people would be better and more considerate when they knew.?

Of course, some are, but many are not, and, if anything, view you with a new weird lens, actively walking the other way if they see you, increasing the discrimination you feel and excluding you from the everyday day for the unfounded fear that you may make them uncomfortable.

#4 Invisibility is the real issue.

And perhaps number four results from number three, or at least to some degree.?

The real issue is that autism, neurodiversity or whatever label we give it, is largely invisible, especially when it comes to individuals like myself who have spent fifty years or more learning to hide it, becoming masters of masking not just to others but also to themselves.??

When something cannot be easily seen, it leads people to question its validity, if it is, in fact, even real.

It is just a made-up diversity for middle-aged white men, is one common phrase I hear, and something that links to my final but most important point.

#5 Neuro-diversity is not a career choice.

Whilst neuro-diversity has certainly powered my career and has sometimes been a superpower, it is not my career.?

Yet every time I write something and share it here, I receive a collection of unkind messages accusing me of doing so in pursuit of my own career and telling me to cease and stop.

So, just to be clear, if only to those LinkedIn trolls, autism is not a career choice; I did not choose this; rather, it chose me. But if sharing my experiences with others helps them too, which I know it does, then I feel it is something I should continue to do regardless of what others say or think.

So that is it: a year and a bit into having a complete diagnosis, the reality versus the myth, and very much the start of a new journey, not the conclusion of a previous one.