Lmst

struggles autistic females face #ActuallyAutistic
#AuDHD
#AutismAcceptance
#AutismCommunity
#AutisticAdults
#ADHDLife
#Neurodivergent
#ADHDAndAutism
#LateDiagnosis

Finding Peace and Understanding: Life After an Autism Discovery at 60

Cathleen Caffrey’s life changed significantly after she realized she was autistic in her late seventies. Previously, she struggled for decades with feelings of loneliness, depression, and a sense that she was a 'bad person.' Her childhood was marked by family separation and social difficulties, incl... [More info]

I’m wondering if anyone relates to the painful grief of all the years spent masking, pretending, and stifling yourself just to fit in. I thought I had worked through this after my diagnosis in April, but it has returned with vengeance.

Finding my autistic tribe online has been life-changing. Last week I felt fully heard and understood in an autistic group for the first time ever. It was incredible, but since then I’ve been an emotional mess. The contrast is so stark: years of loneliness, squashing myself, constant misunderstandings.

I don’t need replies suggesting therapy. I already have a neuroaffirming therapist who helps me more than any counsellor ever has. But it’s 2 am, I can’t sleep, and I feel very alone.

Is it normal for this grief to come back so strongly?

#ActuallyAutistic #AutisticCommunity #Unmasking #Grief #LateDiagnosis #Neurodivergent

Speech isn’t effortless. It’s a performance that drained me for years. I’ve lost people, but I’ve found myself. #VerbalMasking #AuDHD #Neurodivergent #LateDiagnosis #AdvocacyThroughStory #Unmasking

http://learnwhoiam.ca/2025/07/22/when-talking-takes-everything-and-silence-gives-it-back/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Episode 45 - Is It Too Late For Me? A Recent Diagnosis.

From the archives! 🎙️ Episode 45 addresses the challenges of receiving an ADHD diagnosis later in life and how to move forward positively.
https://www.drummerandthegreatmountain.com/adult-adhd-add-tips-and-support-podcast-is-it-too-late-for-me-a-recent-diagnosis
#adhd #neurodivergent #LateDiagnosis

Verbal masking runs deeper than silence—and the scars of mimicry aren’t always obvious. Escaping ABA didn’t mean safety. #AuDHD #LateDiagnosis #VerbalMasking #NeurodivergentVoices #TraumaUnmasked #Chaos
#trauma #PTSD #silence #costs

http://learnwhoiam.ca/2025/07/21/no-therapy-still-broken-how-escaping-aba-didnt-mean-i-was-safe/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Not every voice is natural—mine was forced. Now I’m unmasking the trauma behind verbal survival. #AuDHD #VerbalMasking #Neurodivergent #LateDiagnosis #AdvocacyThroughStory

http://learnwhoiam.ca/2025/07/19/a-childhood-of-words-a-lifetime-of-silence/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

CR:(nf pick) Off the Spectrum
Don’t ask me why but I’ve been more interested in nonfiction then normal. Maybe because I’m at the what now stage and learning more about it will help figure it out?🤷🏽‍♀️

#nonfiction #autism #latediagnosis #whatbnow
#ginarippon

So nonfiction and I are not close friends. But lately, I’ve found some books that have caught my eye. Parenting is hard enough …. But maybe I can find a couple of tips to make life easier?🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

#latediagnosis #autisticmom #autismawareness
#parenting #itsallhard #parentingwhenyoureautistic

They called me shy. Too sensitive. Perfectionistic. Anxious.

But they didn’t see what was really happening underneath.

These are just a few autistic traits that get misinterpreted as personality quirks.

What traits of yours were dismissed or misunderstood? Let’s unmask.

#TheNeuroDuo #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #LateDiagnosis #AutisticWomen #NeurodivergentVoices #AutisticNotBroken #MaskedAutism #NeurodivergentWomen

This week, I have discovered something important about myself: I am AuDhd — autistic and ADHD.

A few years ago, close family suggested that I might be autistic. I started to wonder too, but life kept moving and I pushed it aside. Recently, my psychologist recommended a full assessment. I decided it was time to find out.

Now it’s confirmed. I’m officially diagnosed.

It’s life-changing.
It’s a revelation.
It explains so much about who I am and how my brain works.

I finally have answers to the questions I’ve carried for years. Why I think the way I do. Why I experience the world so intensely. Why things that seem “easy” for others cost me so much energy.

I’ve already spent time grieving the parts of my life shaped by misunderstanding — both from others and from myself. This diagnosis doesn’t change who I am. It simply gives me language for it. It makes sense of a lifetime of being “too much,” “too sensitive,” “too intense.”

I’m not broken.
I’m not a failed version of normal.
I’m neurodivergent — and there is strength in that.

I'm still learning what Unmasking for me means, but here are a few things i plan to start doing:

• Asking for clarity instead of masking confusion
• Setting up my life around my brain’s natural rhythms
• Refusing to apologise for my sensory needs
• Speaking plainly about how I experience the world

Getting this diagnosis is not an end. It’s a beginning.

If you’re walking this path too — late-diagnosed, learning who you really are underneath the masks — you are not alone.

We are allowed to exist as we are.

I’m AuDHD.
I’m proud.
I’m building a life that finally makes sense.

#AuDHD #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD #LateDiagnosis #Neurodivergent #Neurodiversity #Unmasking #SelfAcceptance #DiagnosisJourney #DisabilityPride #Authenticity

Unlearning conformist bigotry is so weird when you've been entrenched in it and brainwashed with it since you were a child. Instead of all those triggers at the world tells you you should be weirded out by, you now have to take that and flip that into celebration

It's very freeing but that freedom is also mildly anxiety inducing as you have to re-learn boundaries of what is actually unacceptable. No, the person showing their interests full blown is perfectly fine and a good thing. Yes, the "cool" people mocking people over being themselves should be viewed as toxic and are not cool at all. Etc.

#BeYourself #Bigotry #ConformistBigotry #Unlearning #ActuallyAutistic #ActuallyADHD #LateDiagnosis #SpecialInterests

One effect from my #LateDiagnosis of #AuDHD that I hadn't expected: having spent all my life hating myself for not being 'normal' enough, I now find myself also feeling guilty for not being #autistic enough AND for not thriving as a #neurodivergent person.

Complicated business, this life thing.

So my therapist proposed a theory today that hadn't previously occurred to me as to why my autism went under the radar while I was growing up. And I think she's right.
Not that I knew it at the time, but I was trans. I had a neurodivergent girl/neuter brain - so my autistic traits would have manifested as female autistic traits. Which no one, including me, would have even thought to look for.
Not to mention that in the period I grew up, "only boys" had autism and it was the kind where they were unable to talk, and they rocked in a corner.
#autism
#autisminwomen
#latediagnosis
#selfdiagnosis

Episode 45 - Is It Too Late For Me? A Recent Diagnosis.

From the archives! 🎙️ Episode 45 addresses the challenges of receiving an ADHD diagnosis later in life and how to move forward positively.
https://www.drummerandthegreatmountain.com/adult-adhd-add-tips-and-support-podcast-is-it-too-late-for-me-a-recent-diagnosis
#adhd #neurodivergent #LateDiagnosis

💙

#ADHD #LateDiagnosis

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-nzGAeMx6W/?igsh=MWNjNnZ0Zm51eWE5Mw==

Understanding the unique challenges and opportunities for autistic adults, including those diagnosed later in life, is vital. Dive into my latest blog post for more insights: [Read more](https://www.papalpenguin.com/?p=1326)

#AutismAwareness #AutismAcceptance #Neurodiversity #MentalHealth #EmploymentChallenges #LateDiagnosis