Page 1 of 1 [ 2 posts ] 

JD6404
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

Joined: 16 Mar 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 4
Location: Northwoods

16 Mar 2019, 7:50 pm

Recently diagnosed as a high functioning autistic among a few other things. I am an early middle age male. Life until now has led me to understand that something was always different. My wonderful and very understanding wife has helped me begin the diagnostic process and has been very helpful and supportive throughout.
Of course, most of my lifelong issues have been with school and then in to my career as an adult. Social issues have caused debilitating issues at times. My job which has been the same for twenty years, however not for the same employer, has changed. I am now faced with person to person contact regularly whereas this contact was rare in the past.
My questions are relatively basic. What do I do now? Medications (just prescribed clonazepam for social anxiety)? Therapy?
Any input from other adults on the spectrum will be greatly appreciated. Thank you



StarTrekker
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Apr 2012
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,088
Location: Starship Voyager, somewhere in the Delta quadrant

17 Mar 2019, 1:04 pm

It depends on what you feel you need help with, or would like to improve. The medication I take for my anxiety helps me a lot, and if yours helps you too then there's nothing wrong with taking it. Many people with anxiety take meds their whole life; it's not necessarily a once and done type thing.

If you have concerns that you feel therapy would help with, I would absolutely recommend that too. I've been in therapy for close to five years now, and have made significant progress with my issues.

As a "labelled" disabled person, you now have access to services you didn't before, such as state-funded Medicaid if you're in the U.S (I don't know where the Norwoods are), and programs specifically to help the disabled. If you feel having a job coach to help you advocate for yourself in your changing job situation, you can get one for free through your state's department of vocational rehab (again, assuming you're in the U.S). I have one who's helping me find work right now, and I love her.

You can also have a look around and see if there are any autism meetup groups in your area, if meeting like-minded people in person is of interest to you. They can be ordinary social groups, or groups run by leaders with specific goals in mind, like a social skills group. I'm in a "problem-solving" group for autistic adults right now, and enjoying that a lot too.

Depending on your location, now that you're diagnosed, you potentially have a wide variety of services at your disposal to experiment with, and personally, I'd encourage you to try out anything you find that you feel may be even remotely helpful; you never know what you'll come across that changes your life.


_________________
"Survival is insufficient" - Seven of Nine
Diagnosed with ASD level 1 on the 10th of April, 2014
Rediagnosed with ASD level 2 on the 4th of May, 2019
Thanks to Olympiadis for my fantastic avatar!