Eighteen months after my initial realisation, it’s become clear that although much more has made sense, there is so much to learn and adjust to make my way from autistic ‘surviving/striving’ through to autistic thriving.

At times, the pace and scope of this task can be overwhelming, because this is happening at exactly the same time that autism in adults, and neurodiversity in adults in general, is becoming better recognised.

Many more adults are being diagnosed; the neurodiversity movement and awareness is growing; and resources, books, speakers, conferences, and social media groups are appearing faster than I can add them to my list of Things To Investigate More Throughly. At the same time, the world is still struggling to handle the complex ramifications of the major societal shifts created by the pandemic.

Additionally, there’s an incredible diversity amongst the experience of autism within the autistic community; its very nature means that there is much variation from one person to the next in terms of how being autistic looks and feels for them.