A low-cost tool accurately distinguishes neurotypical children from children with autism just by watching them copy the dance moves of an on-screen avatar for a minute. It can even tell autism from ADHD, conditions that commonly overlap.

[u/mvea]

https://newatlas.com/adhd-autism/autism-motion-detection-diagnosis/

[u/ZoeBlade]

It sounds like your suspicions were probably well founded. If you're ready to look into it, it can explain a lot of the things you struggle with (some of which you might have erroneously assumed everyone else does as well), and there are certain accommodations you can ideally implement for yourself to make things a little easier. My DMs are open if you'd like to talk about it at all, autism's something of a special interest of mine.

[u/AllanfromWales1 → u/ZoeBlade]

To be honest I've made allowances for the possibility for some time, so it's hardly a shock to me. Given that I'll be retiring later this year, I'm not sure what benefits I could hope for.

[u/ZoeBlade → u/AllanfromWales1]

Well, for one thing, it's likely each of your senses might be too strong or too weak. My partner's found that installing blackout curtains at home has really helped her, while we've both found noise-cancelling headphones to be invaluable. (I'm literally wearing mine right now in order to be able to concentrate properly.)

If you struggle to make eye contact, or decipher people's subtle hints, or people accuse you of being too direct, even arrogant, or mistake your tone of voice for being depressed or upset at them... then it helps to really understand and internalise that you're not a bad person, you're literally just talking with everyone at crossed purposes through no fault of your own.

Just letting yourself fidget (stim) without feeling ashamed, because your nervous sytem / unconscious literally needs to do that to avoid getting overstimulated, can be important.

My mother realised she was autistic after retiring, and it still helped her to advocate for herself, knowing she wasn't imagining all the little ways she struggles when most people don't. Just knowing that it's OK to politely make your excuses and leave a social gathering when it's starting to overwhelm you. Things like that all add up to a much less stressful life, requiring less recovery days.

Mostly, it's a relief to just go easy on yourself, after a lifetime of being too hard on yourself, thinking "Other people can do this, why can't I?" It's not that they're better at overcoming the struggle, it's that they're not struggling in the first place.

[u/AllanfromWales1 → u/ZoeBlade]

Ears: I just don't put in my hearing aids..

..then it helps to really understand and internalise that you're not a bad person..

You don't know me ;). Being serious, though, I gave up worrying about that a very long time ago. Without any diagnosis I just assumed I was different from them. My social circle is very small, and that's OK by me.

[u/ZoeBlade → u/AllanfromWales1]

Fair enough.

On an interesting side note, this is very anecdotal, but my mother's family is also from Wales, as is my partner's, which makes me kinda idly wonder if there's a larger proportion of autistic people in Wales...

[u/AllanfromWales1 → u/ZoeBlade]

..or other places with more sheep than humans.

[u/ZoeBlade → u/AllanfromWales1]

They're certainly easier to talk to!

[u/igloofu → u/ZoeBlade]

On an interesting side note, this is very anecdotal, but my mother's family is also from Wales, as is my partner's, which makes me kinda idly wonder if there's a larger proportion of autistic people in Wales...

Um, interesting, that's all I'm gonna say about that.

And no, I'm gonna say more. My father, myself (mid '40s) and all 3 of my kids are ASD, all with different levels and symptoms. From everything I remember of my Grandfather, and from my dad has said, seems to be the case too. Both my Great Grandmother and Great Grandfather immigrated from Wales, and my Maternal grand mother did too. In fact, my surname is very very much Welsh, and based on a large and famous Welsh region.