This is a stunning and very relevant question considering the fact that I’m currently 42, compared to Glenn who is in his early 50s. In my words, “Why bother at our age?”

When I first felt forced by life stress and masking to face the entirety of my mental health (a prospect which I had to do alone), I had just turned 35 in 2016. Thirty five. Thirty five. Not 42. Not 52, 62, or 72. Not only was it paramount at 35, and now more than ever at 42, it’s not just ageism. How could it be at 35??

That’s because a human beings’ life should be measured in days for issues like autism and accommodations. Every day is like holding your breath to fit in. That does damage psychologically not over time. Each. Day. Each day weakens the link because it wears us down. Eventually, either we experience debilitating breakdowns or incur physical health problems that deteriorate, or terminate, our quality of life.

You wouldn’t let a five-year-old child out in the cold neither should you. No matter who they are. Weep. Despair. Help them. Have compassion no matter what our age is. Revealed in a 2014 interview, at age 77, famed actor Anthony Hopkins was diagnosed as autistic. Imagine what he felt for all those years of masking.

Imagine us all…

The next biggest, glaring problem with my case of being diagnosed at 35 and only in the last year fully understanding it at age 42, is a serious lack of accommodation by major mental healthcare providers. Even in the US, the Centers for Disease Control (which almost seems frightening to consider that mental health conditions like autism are statisticized…) to this very moment Does Not Count adults.

Yet, I was professionally assessed by a certified evaluator.

Yet, I was co-diagnosed thanks to help of both my counselor and psychiatrist who are certified professionals as well.

👀

Ableism and ageism and neurotypal prejudice.