Hello Everyone

Post Reply New Topic

Hi Polynecromorph,

Thanks for the welcome. I do think you can go through the grieving process when discovering you have ASD. Your life, or your perception of it, is drastically altered afterward. For me it's been more like grieving someone after a long illness than after a sudden death. I suspected I could be on the spectrum over a decade ago. Since then, I have been reevaluating relationships, trying to figure out what went wrong, feeling anger and sadness. But it doesn't feel like a shock to me. I'm not through the process but still in middle of it. The challenges of living with ASD don't change. But I hope my ability to cope with them and not be so hard on myself, is where I'd like to get.

My partner has expressed that he thought he might have ASD. He will need to figure that out for himself though.

welcome! what a great screen name! I think discovering that autism was the answer to almost all the "whys" of my life has been such a relief . It opened up a whole new dimension of understanding. Even at a very old age, I think diagnosis is life changing. Glad you are with us. (diagnosed at age 68 just 2 years ago)

Yes you are right and very clever to point out this aspect. I have grieved mostly for the loss of who I thought is was (lots of masking, I'm very good at it).
It's the realization that a lot of who I had become was some kind of a fake carefully held together by millions of tiny tendrils of willpower. I grieve the loss of this part of me sometimes but at the same time joyously embrace my inner, real, weird and quirky me.
My avatar was chosen to reflect exactly this theme. It is an ancient face from the Temple at Bayon in Angkor Wat where I spent two weeks back in 2006. It is the cracks in the face (mask) that appear after many years of weathering that show the true underlying beauty of the defiant smile. Something come full circle.

Hi autisticelders,
Thanks. I'm glad it was an eye opening experience for you. Lots of good info in your blog btw. Thanks for sharing.

Great phrase: tendrils of willpower
Ankor Watt must have been a great adventure and the cracking mask avatar is great.

My avatar also has a special meaning for me. A little backstory first though. Every year, where I live, during early spring, everyone in the village cleans up their gardens and piles all the old brush in one spot. Then on April 30, which is called witches night, we put up a May Pole and have a big bonfire. It's an old tradition still observed. Well a couple years ago, I was out walking with my son. I noticed this one beautiful sunflower growing up from "ashes" of where the bonfire had been and took a photo of it just as the sun was going down. For me it was like a Phoenix rising from the ashes to be reborn.

Ah yes the phoenix rising from the ashes. I've always loved the imagery of that one. It evokes so many seemingly opposed forces that ultimately culminate into something more than the sum of all previous parts. An evolution through destruction. This is, I think, especially relevant for many who have been diagnosed later on in life.
Wonderful story, thanks for sharing that.

Also gets me thinking about disruptive innovation. Something we are in the midst of right now at a level mankind has yet to witness. Very interesting times! (sorry maybe OT, I'm good at that )

I am not that familiar with that term. I had to look that up. Interesting times for sure and also scary times.

disruptive innovation is when something new is invented or introduced that has no precedence and is so revolutionary that it turns everything on its head.
It is often responsible for the destruction of previous ideas products or trends.
Exactly what the introduction of the internet did to fax machines, newsprint, handwritten letters, access to information etc. etc.
So it's very akin to the phoenix. An innovation comes along and burns everything it touches, engulfing entire industries, then out of the ashes the new emerging innovation rises and becomes the new (hopefully better) norm .

I am of course talking about AI and how this is already revolutionizing everything we see do and hear. We are still at the infancy stage but progress has been exponential for years now.

It is interesting. I see the connection you are making. I'm not soo tech inclined. I am not as aware of all the newest, latest and greatest innovations to be looking out for. Some of it will be great and some disconcerting. Especially, when coming to to AI tech. Now, I'm not talking about AI robot uprisings, but some AI tech already being employed seem great on the surface but in practicality are not but they are still used. So what will be rising from the ashes after these technologies raze formor industries to the ground is perhaps a question we should asking.
Is it a beautiful majestic phoenix or Sumatran rat monkey that will take humanity out. In that case, I suppose it would give disruptive innovation a whole new meaning.

Yes the concerns should be taken seriously. We are playing with fire and nobody knows how it will all play out.
There are really only two outcomes.
1. We become the annoying little ants and will be treated as such or.
2. We find a way to either co-exist or have tight control-constraints in place beforehand (something we are not doing)