As I indicated in a previous comment, I did not discover my Autism until the age of 55. And then, only because I had a persistent advocate in a friend. Generally speaking, it is much harder for a woman to discover, as an adult, that she has autism, due to the fact that women naturally mask their symptoms much better than men.
Also, you said you don’t have anxiety. This may be true. But I was convinced that I did not have any anxiety either. But, I do have it. Because I have alexithymia I could not see it.
Alexithymia, a subconscious survival mechanism -- which keeps you from seeing and understanding what it is you are consciously experiencing, mentally and physically -- can hide extreme anxiety from you.
The way I discovered my anxiety was to remember interactions over the years. I remembered many of the clues which point directly to anxiety. The type of reactions other people had to me. The kind of behaviors I exhibited.
I was not fully of aware of my odd behaviors when anxious, until a close friend revealed to me his observations of my wide eyed desperation when in a social situation.
Even having a strong inclination toward extreme, social anxiety, it is possible to be so comfortable around certain people that you would be the last one to leave at a party. But mostly if you have social anxiety, you either leave early, or very early.
As I indicated in a previous comment, I did not discover my Autism until the age of 55. And then, only because I had a persistent advocate in a friend. Generally speaking, it is much harder for a woman to discover, as an adult, that she has autism, due to the fact that women naturally mask their symptoms much better than men.
Also, you said you don’t have anxiety. This may be true. But I was convinced that I did not have any anxiety either. But, I do have it. Because I have alexithymia I could not see it.
Alexithymia, a subconscious survival mechanism -- which keeps you from seeing and understanding what it is you are consciously experiencing, mentally and physically -- can hide extreme anxiety from you.
The way I discovered my anxiety was to remember interactions over the years. I remembered many of the clues which point directly to anxiety. The type of reactions other people had to me. The kind of behaviors I exhibited.
I was not fully of aware of my odd behaviors when anxious, until a close friend revealed to me his observations of my wide eyed desperation when in a social situation.
Even having a strong inclination toward extreme, social anxiety, it is possible to be so comfortable around certain people that you would be the last one to leave at a party. But mostly if you have social anxiety, you either leave early, or very early.
Thank you so much for your perspective on this, Bob. Really appreciated.