https://spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/the-missing-generation/
This is an article that talks about all the misdiagnosed older folks, which are only popping up now that we understand more about autism and how it manifests. These people, in their 40s, 50s, and older, had to grow up without the benefit of the understanding I now benefit from. As such, they often suffered misdiagnoses, anything from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder to OCD. And often, that meant they were institutionalized. (Mental institutions give me the heebie-jeebies because of this. If I'd been born just a little earlier, that's where I might have ended up.)
These people are the 1st generation, as I term them. There are very few of them that managed to blend into society rather than being institutionalized. Some of those that did are Temple Grandin and John Elder Robison, the two great advocates of autism. These people and their families struggled alone, with no real understanding of autism. They simply did the best they could with what little they had, because autism wasn't to become more understood until much later.
I am the second generation, to my mind. If I'd been diagnosed younger, I could have gotten started reading the writings of Temple Grandin and John Elder Robison, along with less well-known authors and psychologists. Even now, diagnosed as an adult, I do benefit from those writings. They help me make sense of my world and my perception of people and society. But I still don't really have other, older autistic people in my life, to whom I can look up to.
That ability, hopefully, will be for the third generation: the autistic kids of today. Autism is still somewhat of an unknown quantity, and while I can take some heart from writing, a living example of success is much more powerful. Not every autistic person wants to stand up and be known, since mental illness and developmental differences are still stigmatized. I intend to be an example for those kids, and the people of the second and first generations. And an educator, for them and for people who aren't on the spectrum. Perhaps one day, a generation of autistics will have a wide and strong support network, rather than having to struggle so hard to blend and achieve success.
This is an article that talks about all the misdiagnosed older folks, which are only popping up now that we understand more about autism and how it manifests. These people, in their 40s, 50s, and older, had to grow up without the benefit of the understanding I now benefit from. As such, they often suffered misdiagnoses, anything from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder to OCD. And often, that meant they were institutionalized. (Mental institutions give me the heebie-jeebies because of this. If I'd been born just a little earlier, that's where I might have ended up.)
These people are the 1st generation, as I term them. There are very few of them that managed to blend into society rather than being institutionalized. Some of those that did are Temple Grandin and John Elder Robison, the two great advocates of autism. These people and their families struggled alone, with no real understanding of autism. They simply did the best they could with what little they had, because autism wasn't to become more understood until much later.
I am the second generation, to my mind. If I'd been diagnosed younger, I could have gotten started reading the writings of Temple Grandin and John Elder Robison, along with less well-known authors and psychologists. Even now, diagnosed as an adult, I do benefit from those writings. They help me make sense of my world and my perception of people and society. But I still don't really have other, older autistic people in my life, to whom I can look up to.
That ability, hopefully, will be for the third generation: the autistic kids of today. Autism is still somewhat of an unknown quantity, and while I can take some heart from writing, a living example of success is much more powerful. Not every autistic person wants to stand up and be known, since mental illness and developmental differences are still stigmatized. I intend to be an example for those kids, and the people of the second and first generations. And an educator, for them and for people who aren't on the spectrum. Perhaps one day, a generation of autistics will have a wide and strong support network, rather than having to struggle so hard to blend and achieve success.
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