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Long story short... At 45 years old, I was diagnosed with autism yesterday, and am awaiting an ADHD assessment over the coming weeks too. Growing up in the 80's and 90's I was certainly aware of what autism was (Rainman was my mum's favourite film), but even though I always knew I was different to my peers, I never stopped to think until recently that it might be something that affected me... To be honest, I was kind of expecting to be called a fraud during my assessment today (especially as my 21yo step son has been diagnosed autistic for as long as I've known him), fully believing that I have what we now know as ADHD (they insist on doing the assessments independently) but that I'd be laughed at during the autism assessment... The truth couldn't have been further from my expectation!
So now, at 45, after decades of wondering why I was different to all of my peers, I am now finally beginning to understand why! All I'm awaiting now is the inevitable diagnosis that I am AuDHD not just autistic...
Anybody else gone through a similar experience?
I haven't. But I can imagine that must be very confronting. How do you feel about it?
What prompted you to get an assessment? And do you, somehow, intend to "fix" yourself or are have you just satisfied some long held curiousity?
The autism curve on BBC Sounds is interesting, one of my takeaways was that if you include all neurodivergency, over 50% of us are in the club.
My wife shows plenty of traits and her Dad clearly was, although too old to care about assesment. We often discuss whether being assesed would help or not, please let us know if it has as you process that information. We just refer it as her superpower, she's an amazing woman, if a little frustrating at times but aren't we all 🙂
Im not formally diagnosed but sure i have some traits. When i realised this in my 50s it made a lot of things clearer. I didn't bother going for a formal diagnosis as it would make no difference to my life at this point.
Out of interest, did they consider trauma as a differential diagnosis during your assessment?
There is a train of thought that to include autism as a diagnosis you should exclude trauma and vice versa.
If ACEs / trauma occur in the early years it can make unravelling the two very difficult, the two can present similarly.
Percentage wise it's all a guess, the NHS doesn't accurately or consistently record the data.
My sister and her husband were diagnosed with, respectively, ADHD and autism within a fortnight of each other. That was a fun couple of weeks. Both have found that it's explained a great deal, but has left them with a lot of upset over the pain that could have been avoided, had people around them just understood what they were looking at.
I recommend reading (comedian) Fern Brady's book, Strong Female Character - her account of late autism diagnosis and the years that preceded it. It's a very funny book that regularly trips over into the tragicomic. The audiobook version is particularly worthwhile, as you get to enjoy her delivery.
Recently, I've been supporting a work pal through the same process. Naturally, being an expert (that is to say, a middle-aged white man, who's ready exactly one book on the subject), I'd spotted that she was autistic as **** out of the gate. It was something she'd been kind of aware of, but had resisted. In her case, she has (pretty typically, it seems) a lot of trauma associated with previous misdiagnosis and general poor treatment from those around her (as well as just regular trauma from unfortunate life events). Importantly, the diagnosis is allowing her therapist to adapt his approach to her unusual processing style.
Good luck to all those going through similar.
My daughter diagnosed last year at 34 with ADHD. Suffice to say the meds have changed her life immeasurably and also lead to some grieving for what she could have achieved if mental health care and treatment had been better in Suffolk since she was born. A proper evaluation when she was 17 and tried to kill herself would have been life-changing for her. She has played the poor hand dealt very well and finally has the outcomes she is worthy of.
There is a train of thought that to include autism as a diagnosis you should exclude trauma and vice versa.
If ACEs / trauma occur in the early years it can make unravelling the two very difficult, the two can present similarly.
I'd imagine that could be quite difficult. Children who are excessively emotionally dysregulated (a common symptom for ADHD and Autism) as they grow up are almost certainly going to experience trauma, to a greater or lesser extent.
I was misdiagnosed as Bipolar 15 years ago and then I was re-diagnosed as having Borderline Personality Disorder. I'm pretty sure that is also a wrong diagnosis as while I have some of the symptoms some of the key ones are missing.
What I now reckon is that I've actually had undiagnosed ADHD for most of my life since that makes much more sense than BPD. The trauma that I experienced growing up (which was attributed to causing the BPD) wasn't really any worse than what you would expect form an emotionally dysregulated kid growing up in environments that did not accept kids with big emotions they couldn't deal with.
As things stand, I try to organise my life to work around the ADHD. What I'd really like is an ADHD diagnosis so that I can start using the medication. I feel like I'm almost there with my toolkit but there are a few things I fail at repeatedly and I'm interested in finding out if the medication just gives me enough breathing space to stop failing at these last few issues.
The traits of past trauma are recognised as overlapping with those of ASD - and of course a person can have both also.
At the higher functioning level It's a very difficult diagnosis to give accurately.
Was it a private diagnosis or one from the NHS?
There are some links between the use of devices and social media are leading to ADHD type symptoms. Which, especially for kids, throws a spanner in the works. I keep seeing "ceratonin detox" ads which seems to me just " put your phone down.
All showing that there are a massive number of factors that affect how our brains work and our brain chemistry. A diagnosis is sometimes an easy peg to hang our idiosyncrasies on but a harder thing to address. (This from someone who turn a plate so the food is correctly aligned).
Some might find this an interesting read: https://clok.uclan.ac.uk/id/eprint/51830/
It's also worthy of note that autism assessments should meet NICE guidelines criteria which are being reviewed.
It's also interesting that the whole diagnosis process is based on a medical model using the DSM / ICD mental health manuals to diagnose. Yet autism is not a mental health or medical condition.
The assessment is an assessment of deficiency and is not reflective of enablement.
Whilst a lot of people can empathise with some autistic traits, it's important to remember that for the autistic person their autistic enablements come at a cost of disablement, and it is this which differentiates an autistic from someone who can resonate with autistic traits.
I am autistic but have never been diagnosed (I really don't need to be, believe me). It would have been VERY useful to have been diagnosed at say 6 years old (at age 57 not so much) as would have made sense to my parents, school etc, why I was like I was. I wouldn't have necessarily wanted anything to be different around me but the "he is anti social", "he is rude", "just get on with a noisy environment like everyone else" etc,. etc,. may not have occurred so much.
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yeah I'm in my 40s, pretty sure I've had adhd my whole life, but recently had what I think was a "manic episode", felt like a supercharged adhd hyper-focussed period. Didn't sleep at all for 6 days! Nearly spent 30k. I saw doctor thinking I'd be rushed into hospital or something, but its a 8 month wait to see someone. In the meantime I'm trying to work but I keep falling asleep. I was solo parenting the kids the other weekend and literally 2 hours dissappeared after I fell asleep on the sofa.
Yes. NSFW
"Eye contact makes me feel unhinged, when I have to change plans I can feel my soul cringe." 🤣 🤣 🤣
Would have been handy at 6, not so much now. Being sent away from home at 12 may have been avoided and I really would have appreciated being told early on that getting employment would be extremely difficult and I would saved the business and educational world a fortune in postage for rejection letters.
Mind I did get past the gatekeepers due to one school bending the rules on appointments and on reflection that was possibly of some service to their neurodivergent pupils.
No official diagnosis but one of my wifes friends, who deals with autism and trauma on a professional basis, is very clear that I have many autistic traits and I do recognise these myself. I've been aware for a few years but, at age 66 now, not sure it makes any difference to my life/lifestyle other than I sometimes do use that knowledge to stop pressuring myself to do things which make me "uncomfortable" in some ways. That's maybe not a good thing, though I see links between this and the stoicism thread.
I needed the diagnosis otherwise I would probably have spent the rest of my life questioning, and I'm only half way to my target age of 100.
This is my 4th attempt at writing a response. I'm uncertain about what to say, and am cautious about what I want to reveal about myself by doing so.
- Denial of being autistic, and/or imposter syndrome happens, feelings of shame, could be internalized ablism, ie, you've spent your life trying to be normal, viewed autistic people as less-than (we all have biases), and now suddenly, you're one of them. Quite common I think.
- Denial because your life has moulded itself around you - ie you feel like you don't face many social difficulties because you get on with people at work (more or less huhuhhuhu) while conveniently forgetting you don't actually socialize because you have no friends!
- Uncertainty about who you are, have you been masking, what is masking, difficulty trying to untangle a lifetime's web. Fairly common I think.
- Anger at how a life has been spent not knowing; sometimes discover a person had strong suspicions years ago but never said anything.
- autism becoming a special interest and then falling down a rabbit hole of other conditions and terminology, alexithymia for instance, finding it all overwhelming, causing more uncertainty.
The main positive for me, was finally having an answer as to why, a sense of relief, and then could start to better understand the difficulties.
Officially diagnosed at 44 (ASD)but I've known pretty much all my life that I seemed to struggle with things that others found easy. My daughter was diagnosed at 13 (also ASD but suspected AUHD) and has received a lot of support from her school. I really wish I could have been diagnosed as a child because I think it would have helped a lot and my life would be very different to how it is today. School was not a pleasant place in the 80s and early 90s when you were the weird kid!
Just my whole family and basically everyone I know. And most people on STW too - because we're hanging around on here instead of doing our jobs.
MrsD learned, after starting therapy in her late 40's, that she was almost certainly mildly autistic. Decided not to pursue a full diagnosis, but it was still useful.
She has always had certain difficulties, and put them down to just 'being weird', so having more of a framework has really helped her (and my) understanding. Some of them are classic traits in hindsight - huge issues around foods, a need to lock herself away and sit quietly for several hours after (say) a weekend visiting family, no close friends, a tendency to become overstimulated and overwhelmed very easily, etc.
So being able to put this stuff all into context, and with continuing therapy/counselling has really helped her gain some coping strategies for work and life situations, and she's a lot happier / more contented now, 4 years on.
Yeah having worked in data analysis for a while I've met a few people who are a bit different. You know the type, they like socialising, have loads of friends, enjoy smalltalk, have different things for lunch every day... Weirdos.
I've thought about exploring a diagnosis but don't see what difference it'd make for me now, but I've become much more accepting of who I am and try not to mask as much to "fit in".
I’m not officially diagnosed, but mostly likely autistic. I watched that Paddy Mcguinnes program a few years back about his family and there was a lot I could relate to. Did the online quiz and yep it said autism.
I did wonder about an official diagnosis but not sure what I’d achieve. I was mid forties and content. It then became a thing that I’d notice I was doing something and realised it was the autistic traits showing through. It played on my mind a bit, but I’ve just got on with it. A lot of the quirks of being me make so much more sense once I understood that I’m autistic.
I'm just starting the process for a formal assessment at 36. In the last 18 months I've come to think I am likely to be autistic, and my friends' response has generally been "well, duh". I'd be happy without a formal diagnosis, but I had a career change a couple of years ago from a structured environment with clear instructions to the public sector and struggled enormously. My boss and I think formal diagnosis would really help them and future employers get the best out of me. I'm also going back to uni part time this year and I suspect some appropriate support will help me do better.
I feel like an absolute fraud about it - if I'm autistic, then what are people who genuinely struggle to get through a day because of their autism? It took a lot of strength to go to my GP with it and their initial response certainly expressed doubts.
I have ADHD. My employer classes this as a disability, so they are legally obliged to make allowances for it. My colleague who also has ADHD has been given his own office (there are tons of them available in that site so it was easy for them). But TBH I am not sure what I would ask for.
I WFH, but I'd quite like an actual office as I've realised that being at home means that all the home things I deal with (or create for myself to deal with) weigh on my mind a lot. They could rent me a Regus office which would be a mile's walk from my house (and one-person cubicles are actually pretty cheap) but then I'd be alone all day in a cubicle and that might not help. Or it might.
Other that, the thing I would most like from my manager is for him not to be on my case all the time. Let me do things the way I need to do them and in the order and at the time I need to do them. Don't think that just because you don't understand me that means I'm a bad worker.
Rob Warner was diagnosed as an adult and spoke about it on The Ride Companion YT channel. It's a really good watch...
Interesting as it's Rob Warner, but also as parent to a child with Autism.
I've recently been diagnosed with ADHD. As I have another 20 years + of work I'd quite like to have a way of reducing the challenges I've had over the years. We'll see how things go, maybe it will help.
Rob Warner was diagnosed as an adult and spoke about it on The Ride Companion YT channel. It's a really good watch...
Interesting as it's Rob Warner, but also as parent to a child with Autism.
IIRC he hasn't actually been formally diagnosed but is very sure that he is autistic. I think he's going to do a video of doing a formal diagnosis at some point.
- Denial of being autistic, and/or imposter syndrome happens, feelings of shame, could be internalized ablism, ie, you've spent your life trying to be normal, viewed autistic people as less-than (we all have biases), and now suddenly, you're one of them. Quite common I think.
- Denial because your life has moulded itself around you - ie you feel like you don't face many social difficulties because you get on with people at work (more or less huhuhhuhu) while conveniently forgetting you don't actually socialize because you have no friends!
- Uncertainty about who you are, have you been masking, what is masking, difficulty trying to untangle a lifetime's web. Fairly common I think.
- Anger at how a life has been spent not knowing; sometimes discover a person had strong suspicions years ago but never said anything.
- autism becoming a special interest and then falling down a rabbit hole of other conditions and terminology, alexithymia for instance, finding it all overwhelming, causing more uncertainty.
Them existential crisis time blues.
Understanding-anger-depression-complete detachment from reality-melancholia-philosophical acceptance.
Munrobiker
If i had realised at your age then i probably would have gone for formal diagnosis. Not realising until my 50s meant there was no point
I do think we need to be careful about stating we are autistic. It can devalue those who are badly disabled by it. The form of words i use is " autistic traits"
Anyone with neurodiverse conditions and struggling at work, I'd strongly encourage you to check out the Access to Work scheme - which the Gov't funds to help keep stop people falling out of work.
There's also a mental health version. Both are excellent (and free to use).
(For full disclosure, my employer is one of the providers, but I'm not trying to drum up business and won't link directly)
Interesting as it's Rob Warner, but also as parent to a child with Autism.
My daughter has the same autism-related condition as Rob, pathological demand avoidance. He's done incredibly well for himself if his experience is anything like the same.
I do think we need to be careful about stating we are autistic. It can devalue those who are badly disabled by it. The form of words i use is " autistic traits"
It is called a spectrum for a reason. I have what would have been called aspergers but that term is not used now which is almost a shame as it does exactly what you are pointing out as a person with aspergers is not in same league as say a non verbal autistic person.
I have no problem being like I am as it has benefits as well as disadvantages and clearly is very different from a 'heavily' autistic person where it is a big disability. But then those with the condition to that extreme won't be discussing it on a bike forum will they...
I think the thing that makes me feel particularly uncomfortable about the idea that I might be autistic is that I'm great at socialising - I hold back a lot of what I want to say but generally, I thrive off company. But, I also offend people a lot and have to work incredibly hard to gain and keep friends. But everyone else who is/thinks they are autistic seems to really struggle with this.
For anyone who's curious then Pierre Novellie's book "Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things: A Comedian's Guide to Autism". A friend nudged me in the direction of it (I think with a point) and after listening to the second chapter of the audiobook I sat in the car thinking "oh ****". It was me down to a T. But it's funny, interesting and helps someone who's at the more aspergers end of the spectrum understand what the bloody hell the rest of the world is up to.
I think the thing that makes me feel particularly uncomfortable about the idea that I might be autistic is that I'm great at socialising - I hold back a lot of what I want to say but generally, I thrive off company.
A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with autism which was very surprising since he is one of the most charming socially outgoing people I know.
Funnily enough, when I first met him I really didn't like him since something just felt 'off'. After many meetings the 'offness' gradually disappeared and we became very good friends.
What I realised was that when he meets new people he effectively railroads the conversation in directions he is comfortable in where he can be charming, witty, and generally seen as the life of the party. It's quite subtle and most people don't notice it but to me it just felt off because it didn't feel like we were having an authentic conversation. Once he relaxed and became himself we got on really well.
Some autistic people can be very good at socialising but I think this is often a form of masking.
More likely to be a by product of also having ADHD than simply from masking. It's fairly common to have both.
when he meets new people he effectively railroads the conversation in directions he is comfortable in where he can be charming, witty, and generally seen as the life of the party.
I do this subconsciously. To many folk I'm that cheery, happy-go-lucky, laughing guy. Inwardly I'm a grump. I can meet folk and form a very superficial friendship but it doesn't go deep. Mind you, that's a trait that's also quite common amongst men, and certainly men of a certain age.
Wasn't long after my 45th birthday that I made the reasonably profound discovery that I am autistic. Lots of things about it didn't make sense until I also got the counterpart diagnosis of ADHD. Neither of which I could have believed were remotely possible because of the sheer amount of stigma around both conditions when I was growing up.
I was so very wrong. Turns out that elements of each can quite effectively mask the other, so outwardly I can be seen like I have my sh*t together and are a fairly well rounded individual. Inwardly, however, I spent most of my adult life feeling like an outsider who is a broken dysfunctional mess.
Now I know why.
I am slowly stripping back what is genuinely me, and what is me masking to seem normal. What I genuinely enjoy over what I do because I subconsciously needed to fit in with society and people in some way. It's taking time and it's not always going well. What I do know is hiding my true self was tiring and I didn't even realise why I was doing it. Maintaining such a high level of self awareness in every single interaction with other human beings was extremely tiring... no wonder I couldn't function properly the day after anything social.
The other benefit is I am starting to understand how I process the world and how I deal with pressure, organisation, demands on my time or focus etc. All stuff I have struggled with massively (and still do) but at least I know I don't just suck at being a functioning adult now. I'm starting to find ways to work with my brain rather than just doing what people who don't understand have suggested (that never work).
When you don't navigate social situations instinctively, you have to analyse and dissect it so you can reproduce it. Figure out what works and what doesn't, consciously. If you are functioning well enough to do this you can get quite good at it, but it's because you've essentially had to become an expert in something that most people don't even have to think about.
Anyway. I saw a meme today that said "Autism is where people are mad at you your whole life, and ADHD is where people are disappointed in you your whole life."
I had a rubbish experience with the diagnostic team a few years back (c. 10 or 11 years ago). Lots of leading questions, which to my very well practised brain just spurts out rehearsed responses, in a socially adapted manner. They pretty much laughed at the idea that I thought I may be on the spectrum. My immediate reaction was just saying, OK, and leaving, which possibly should have been a trigger to investigate further.
I eventually concluded that I was just really good at masking.
I'd been doing the social thing for 40 years by that point. When I was in school, I had to consciously but subtly study how other kids interacted with each other, as I didn't intuitively get it, or if I tried I'd do something odd, risking being ostracised and bullied for the remainder of my time at school. I was good at learning though and that saw me through high school with only a few mishaps.
When I was young I wondered if I was the same type of human as others. I wondered if I was a messiah (!) or a devil. I saw how other kids and adults behaved and felt out of sync with the universe they were existing in. I was perceived as naughty, inattentive and a bit thick. I just didn't know the hidden language.
I grew up thinking this was what it was like to be 'living' and everyone had the same experiences. Driving a meat sack with a consciousness, and that people just didn't talk about the other stuff, they just got on with it.
It wasn't until my 20's that I figured out that I had operational differences, but back then Autism, Aspergers etc, just referred to those more profoundly autistic. So I got used to the way I worked and found folk along the way I got along with who were accepting of most of my peculiarities. Socially I managed quite well, specialist groups, MTB, rock and goth music. small one on one social interactions with common interests. Work events were and are a bit of a nightmare. Unfamiliar environments, not wanting to talk shop and not often having particularly common interests makes the 'small talk' impossible and anxiety inducing.
So I live considering myself to be ASD. I'm very different from my wife, who has a diagnosis of ADHD, and slightly different from my daughter, who is AuDHD.
ASD, or Aspergers as it was then, seemed to tick a few boxes I didn't know I could tick. it seemed a good fit to my particular way of existing and the difficulties I've had.
Most friends I've had, had no idea about my ASD. But that is more a reflection of my ability to cope well with short timescale interactions. I am rubbish at keeping in touch with those I get on with, but those I do get on with tend not to have expectations of me like that.
Overwhelm can be a problem. until knowing about ASD I didn't know it was a common thing and since have let myself off more and taken more action to manage it when it happens. having others understand more, or be open to understanding more, without having to go into a 7 page essay, but just from saying you are ASD is once of the better outcomes, once you get through the 'everyone is a bit....stuff'
I have looked at formal private diagnosis again, but there are a lot who are very much geared up for a 'fix', especially with ADHD medication. I'm more concerned that as I age, there may be certain levels of support I'd benefit from accessing and wont because of a lack of formal diagnosis. I don't want fixed, I have no idea how it feels to operate other than I do and I'm too old to feel like an stranger in my own skin.
apologies for the long post. I overshare 😉
It’s not uncommon in my line of work - went on a training day a while back where they said that anyone who fails postgrad exams more than times now gets referred for assessment, and 33% have undiagnosed ADHD or autism.
I think the long and the short of it is that no-one was really looking for these things 30 years ago?
I think the long and the short of it is that no-one was really looking for these things 30 years ago?
Think you're right. Closest I got when I was a child was my parents being told that I was :hyperactive' by our GP and to restrict drinks with certain E numbers. Which seemed to be a new reason back in the early 80s. :-/
My mum when I talked to her about ASD just said she thought I was a bit different, but that was just how I was.
Growing up with that, I think had saved me from a lot of trauma.
Which brings me to the trauma thing. Ive hear there is more of a either or approach when it comes to trauma response or Autism. How do they differentiate between that? Surely someone with autism will experience trauma as a direct result of trying to squeeze a round peg into a square hole? Though it may not manifest as traditional trauma response as our brains have different circuitry?
I had a rubbish experience with the diagnostic team a few years back (c. 10 or 11 years ago). Lots of leading questions, which to my very well practised brain just spurts out rehearsed responses, in a socially adapted manner.
What I realised was that when he meets new people he effectively railroads the conversation in directions he is comfortable in where he can be charming, witty, and generally seen as the life of the party. It's quite subtle and most people don't notice it but to me it just felt off because it didn't feel like we were having an authentic conversation. Once he relaxed and became himself we got on really well.
Some autistic people can be very good at socialising but I think this is often a form of masking.
My step-dad is this all over. Immediately charming, funny, puts people at ease, etc. But it drives Mum mad because it's the same rehearsed process over and over and over again. He tells me the same jokes he told me 30 years ago. It also means he can completely fool health professionals, tells outright lies about his health to them. Turns out he's paralysed with fear and anxiety and has been using these defence mechanisms his entire life.
Surely someone with autism will experience trauma as a direct result of trying to squeeze a round peg into a square hole? Though it may not manifest as traditional trauma response as our brains have different circuitry?
Here be the entrance to the rabbit hole. Countless acronyms lurk down there. I've peered in but that's it. Some people on social media dive in head first.
OK so a massive thank you to all who responded to this thread the other week, and apologies from my end for not responding before... To be honest, I was so overwhelmed at the time that beyond the initial brain dump post, I didn't know what else to say... Obviously I've had a bit of time to process things now, but also, I have now had my ADHD assessment too...
Which basically confirmed that I'm "ADHD AF!"... 😂
So yes, I have the rare AuDHD perfect storm combination, where outwardly I show very little of either Autistic or ADHD traits and appear pretty "normal" (albeit a bit laid back and perhaps lazy at times), but inside I've got two quite rampant forces, each of them pretty difficult to manage in their own right, desperately vying for my attention and tugging me one way then the other behaviourally! No wonder I'm always ****ing tired...
Next steps... Speak to my GP about potential help and support, and potentially medication options if it will help...
Anyway. I saw a meme today that said "Autism is where people are mad at you your whole life, and ADHD is where people are disappointed in you your whole life."
That's a whole level of unhappiness for living a life to its best. I can recognise myself in the planning for social situations but in my 60's others have more call on medical help (see comment on Suffolk's woeful mental health team above) and I'll struggle on trying not to piss too many people off.
Yes in my 50s
It's not a super power
It makes normal life involving other people impossible.
You will annoy pretty much everyone.
Masking skills evaporate very quickly after diagnosis
You will review every decision you ever made
Wouldn't wish it on a living soul
My other half thinks I do it on purpose...... ffs
How do you get diagnosed? Last I heard there was a 7 year wait to get one on the NHS, in my area at least (London)
Some friends of mine have gone through this process in the last few years. With her to be honest it does make a lot of sense and I think has really helped her. It was a bit of a classic drunk men set the world's to rights kinda night but they both reckoned I am probably somewhere in the same area.
I'm a bit resistant / hesitant to take it any further as broadly speaking not sure it's worth it? What with the depression and the aphantasia I know my brains a bit odd so not sure any formal diagnosis would add much.
It would probably explain a lot about my childhood behaviour though and maybe help my mum accept it probably wasn't her fault I was a bit of a nightmare.
Going back 50 years - I was packed off to residential education which was admittedly of the highest quality possible.
It did not prepare me for a life of rejection and near unemployability, which for the most time I considered to be entirely my fault. It is definitely not a superpower.
I watched this the other day, thought it was a very interesting take on Autism/Neurodivergence.
(I set the speed to 1.25x he has slightly over long pauses 😀 )
Don't worry about the obviously AI generated thumbnail if you're bothered by it, there's very little of that content in the video.
Stats wise it's currently a 2-3 year wait for children's autism / ADHD assessments in Gloucestershire and currently it's 3% of children formally diagnosed as autistic.
I might start wearing headphones all the time and flapping or something, so that people will be a bit more sympathetic when I absolutely can't be bothered to do admin or any other task if I'm not suddenly massively interested in it.