Gratefully diagnosed at 75

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My name is Sandra, and I was diagnosed last month. I had been struggling with exhaustion for months, what I now recognize as autistic burnout. My daughter suggested I might be autistic, and off I went to research. As others have mentioned, looking through the lens of autism brought my life into focus for the first time. I had been resigned to getting through the rest of my life, and now I feel energized and enthusiastic and NOT broken. I live in Colombia, South America, and received my diagnosis here after a very thorough evaluation, which included writing an autobiography, very helpful in itself. I find it easy to be autistic in a country like Colombia; for me there's more room to be expressive, and I figure that if I act "quirky," it will be chalked up to being a gringa. I'm processing my new world and having lots of thoughts and memories about life before; it's a rewarding and sometimes exhausting journey. I found this group by "accident." I would love to find someone with some similarities in their life story to check in with on a regular basis; as I once read, "Going into your own mind is like going into a bad neighborhood; you should never go alone." I teach English, study Spanish and French, garden, read, practice QiGong, watch birds, and enjoy life in a small town in Colombia.

royalhalo, Welcome to Wrong Planet.

You titled your introduction as Diagnosed at 75. I am 75, so perhaps we are the same age. You wrote that you are from Colombia, South America. You mentioned that your occupation is an English as a Second Language (ESL) Teacher. And your interest are languages, GiGong, gardening, bird watching.

I haven't heard of GiGong before so I looked it up.



And you said one of your interest is gardening. I like gardening. I have about an acre gardern and have been gardening for almost 40 years.

You began by saying, "I had been struggling with exhaustion for months, what I now recognize as autistic burnout."

From my long life experience, I have found two things that help me cope and prevent burnout. These are exercise and sleep. In general I exercise about a hour per day by walking up and down a steep hill in my front yard. Sometimes I go to the gym and swim a mile. Even at age 75, I can swim long distances by using flippers and swimming on my back. The other thing that eliminates stress is getting good sleep, deep sleep (this is called deep NREM and REM sleep). Even at age 75, I can still get around 2 hours of this type of sleep each night.

So if stress is causing autistic burnout, you might focus on these two features.

Again welcome to the site.

Hi,
Thanks for your warm welcome. Actually, I'm from the US. After having worked in eight countries, I find I am much happier and peaceful living in a developing country. I agree with you about the importance of sleep and exercise. You sound very active! My knees are not happy with hills, but I walk and stretch every day and do QiGong. Let me know if you find it useful; I can also recommend other videos if you like. You're in Indiana now? Is that where you've been gardening for 40 years?

Welcome to WP and to the Autism Spectrum! I hope you like both of them.

75! Wow! I was diagnosed shortly before my 65th birthday and thought that was late...'til I got here and discovered I was not the only one who had muddled through many decades before being diagnosed.

As one Halo to another...
Welcome to WP

Welcome to WP. I hope you find it useful and that you find what you are looking for.

I used to live in Brazil so I know the appeal of living in South America, though I lived in a big city, and I was young.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

A very warm welcome to you! I was diagnosed aged 66 and will be 77 later this month. I smile to myself when I see some article somewhere supposedly about "late diagnosis" which describes people in their 20s or 30s!! !

I self-diagnosed about age 56. It was a huge relief which explained many things in my life. Now I know why I come home from work and like to be alone, etc.
I am just starting to garden.
I tell so many people that I'm autistic, I suppose in part so that they can begin to understand if I seem different, and also to help educate others about us. That we are everywhere.
I have lifelong insomnia that I am still working on.
My exercise is electric mountain biking. But I also have many stairs at home.

That is where I have been gardening. I live in southern Indiana. The area has many hills and valleys. I bought some land over 40 years ago and built my home. It makes it easy to exercise. All I have to do is leave my front door.

Hello.

Thank you all for the welcome and the warm messages. I haven't figured out how to answer people individually.

To Double Retired: Yes, it's odd at this age to be diagnosed. I had never considered the possibility of autism, still had the image of rich white boys flapping their arms in my mind.

To SendInTheClowns: I have same reaction when I read about young people being diagnosed, but I get it's very late for them.

To Bobbly: Interesting that you tell so many people. Do you find they are generally receptive? I've been a little cautious. Before I was diagnosed, I told my (ex) acupuncturist that I was exploring autism, and I got a very patronizing response. I've told a few people here, some where I live and a couple of students. What's fun and challenging for me is explaining to people who have no idea what autism is, not an uncommon response in this Colombian mountain town.

If anyone wants to send me a PM and explore any themes more fully, that would be great.

Before 2019 I knew virtually nothing about Autism. I had seen some commercials for Rain Man and that was effectively all I knew. I did not know it had been moved to a Spectrum. I didn't know "High Functioning" was an option and "those" folk might be around me without me knowing it.

If someone had told me that they thought I might be Autistic I would've figured they were stupid and/or mean—and obviously wrong!

I've learned a bit since then...though I'm still certainly no expert.

P.S. Just this past week I acquired a Blu-Ray copy of Rain Man. We've not watched it yet but hopefully we will soon. (My bride is not Autistic, she is ADHD—and she rejects my suggestion that she should get the Autism "upgrade". )

Welcome to Wrong Planet Sandra! Glad you decided to join us!

Wow! That is beautiful your daughter recognized you're autistic. I can relate to that very much! We are so lucky to have such wonderful daughters. I am really happy for you. It sure does take a lot of pressure off of you once you finally find out you have autism.