Who here is parenting an ND child?

Has finding out their diagnosis also led to you or their other parent to a late diagnosis?

Any resources you’d like to share with the community?

  • TechyDad@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’m the father of a son with Asperger’s/High Functioning Autism. (He was diagnosed just before Asperger’s was folded into Autism in general.) As I was reading up on Autism to see what my son was going through, I realized something weird. All these books on Autism were talking about me.

    Now, once always known I was different, but I chalked this up to “stunted social growth due to excessive bullying in high school.” Of course, this didn’t explain why I did some things into my mid-30’s.

    I came to the realization that I’m Autistic. It was a tough realization to come to. My entire sense of self felt like it was destroyed. Everything I thought I knew about myself was wrong and I needed to rebuild my sense of self from scratch. Once I got over the shock, though, everything about my life made a lot more sense.

    I never got a diagnosis, though, for various reasons. It would cost money when money was tight. It wouldn’t have helped my son and I also had (unknowingly) developed coping mechanisms. So I’m undiagnosed, but 100% positive that I’m ND.