Good Evening from Somewhere in England.

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I have been long-term sick for years with all my physical ailments etc but I volunteer twice a week.

I was worried I was headed toward burnout too and this is why I told my supervisor not to book anymore appointments for me - I am outta ere I did say.

I also told her I would be looking at doing some assessment training and preferably in ASD etc. when I come back.

She just smiles at me and says ok - she knows that when I get an idea I will not let it go easily.

Self-care is very important and if we don't take the time we need then we are terribly susceptible to mental health issues and this can have a knock-on effect to our bodies too. I have fibromyalgia/CFS, Lipoedema/lympoedema, and most recently a heart problem - so I have been given blood pressure meds.

I have been studying for nearly six years (part-time) and graduating at present so my head is done in from all the stuff I tried to cram into it that it didn't want me to. I am loving being able to read fantasy books now.

Be very kind to yourself Lostgirl as very few people in this world will know how you feel apart from you. We are not here long enough to kill ourselves for the fat cats.

Hello Hurtloam,

Yes it is a bit windy out there - I got my washing out to make the most of it.

I take it you are probably somewhere in England too if it is windy or not to far away anyway?

Nice to meet you.

Hm... I've read the Robin Hobb ones too, I liked the assassin series best, but don't know many other books about dragons. I just bought "Tooth and Claw" by Jo Walton, but I've only read the start so not sure how good it is yet. It's got an interesting premise because the dragons have this sort of Victorian society thing going. And there's "Seraphina" by Rachel Hartman, that was quite original, too.

If you want to try other winged creatures, I'd recommend Rachel Neumeier (griffins) or Martha Wells "The Cloud Roads"(shapeshifters). Martha Wells also has a neat little sci fi novella out called "All Systems Red" about a part-biological android. That's more my sort of thing - I'm into robot and cyborg stuff - but you might enjoy it. The android is so very aspie

What is CFS?

That is the biggest problem - lack of understanding. My parents and siblings have teally eased up on me and been very understanding since diagnosis. My boyfriend is just a complete nightmare though. Half the time I feel like I'm the neurotypical and he's the one with ASD! I'm currently still in bed on a downer. I feel like this Is going to be a bad week for me for some reason

Lostgirl, I have just parted from my boyfriend who was allegedly NT and I thought was more ASD than me. He had little interest or acceptance of my diagnosis either. I decided I was better off single so made the choice and didn't look back.

CFS is chronic fatigue syndrome or also called ME ( I have forgotten what these letters stand for). It means I get very tired all the time quite easily, especially if I don't pace myself. Probably it is a reaction of my sensitivities to everything.

Mrs Peel, thank you for the suggestions, I rather fancy the 'all systems red' book but my library is has a sparse collection of fantasy/scifi books. I can get 'tooth and claw' so I will have a bash at that one I think. Seraphina looks good too.

Congrats on being diagnosed! I know you must be happy about that. All the best.

Lorraine

Thank you, Lorraine, I am making the most of it.

So many from Great Britain here this is cool! I was born in Canada but my mother was born in Watford, England on May 7th 1936. So I'm half English and half Swedish and all Canadian. If that makes any sense.

It makes sense and what a marvellous mixture - you had a good start in life Ha!

Haha! Thanks!

good evening from somewhere in new zealand.
i was also diagnosed in my 40s, ten months ago. it would have made my life a lot easier to know earlier. less mistakes, less mishaps, less regrets. i wish i had known earlier, and yet, i wonder if i would have done half the things i have done in my life, travelled, studied, marriage, if i had known earlier ...
welcome to the site (i am also new and yes, the recaptua bug got me too)

Hello RiversongK in New Zealand.

Yes I am with you on the 'would I have done the things I have done if I had known?' thought.

I suppose everything has it's pros and cons. But I am not noticing the down side yet.

For me as well ladies. I was also diagnosed only 3 months ago, now 42. My thoughts about how much better my excruciatingly painful life could have been had I known that I had Asperger's far sooner. IF I had parents who cared, IF I cared enough about myself, etc. etc. It's been nothing but anger and anxiety since I was very young and I can't say that I've really known happiness - at least for very long in my life.

So just now I'm starting the road to recovery... I'm like an ant pushing a tricycle here.

I left work 3 years ago for a medical leave of absence, not knowing for how long and not even knowing exactly what was wrong. But, something was definitely very wrong and I wasn't just "tired". I had no clue at that point that I would end up realizing (like a lightbulb went on), that I have ASD. I knew I couldn't do the job any more, couldn't socialize with colleagues, couldn't fake it, couldn't work on a schedule, couldn't deal with the stress, the commute, the decisions, the responsibilities, the fake emotions and the sensory overload. I requested a couple of months off and suffered what I now call an Aspie Breakdown. They are very common and similar to a nervous breakdown in the Aspie coping system. While I was off from work I suffered a stroke on top of the breakdown. I am now on Long Term Disability and will not be going back to work before my retirement in 2 years. A break from work is very, very, very helpful for the brain to decompress and unwind. It's been 3 years since I worked and I am just now starting to feel myself relax... a bit.
Hang in there.

Hi Temeraire

Welcome from another newbie.

I've just been diagnosed at 50 years old. Like you said, In some ways I'm glad that it wasn't noticed as a kid, as struggling my way through growing up and trying to socialise has taught me some good coping strategies.

I was very quiet at school unlike you, but like you said, I was good at science and maths and did not have much interest in anything else. I got bullied quite a lot as they obviously noticed I was different, But I hope that's made me a stronger person

Regards
Neil

Hi Neil,

It is quite a big thing to get your head around in some respects but understandable in others.

I am having a long break now so wondering what to do with my time.

50 is a good age to be diagnosed - at least you can be sure by then - ha!

I am not sure what happened to me about 8 years ago but judging by what others have said I may have had an aspie breakdown or something similar.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and started part-time study when I was able to so I was progressing in some way.

I am now quite knackered and ready for a break of unknown time.