[DanielGeisler]

I now have diagnoses of rapid cycling bipolar II and moderate autism, but in the early Nineties I realized I was dealing with ADHD. I was fortunate that one of my autistic abilities was being extremely good at mathematics and computer science. My important adjustment was becoming a computer consultant on projects that lasted several months. I can attack new projects with great intensity, but I fry out after a few months.

While I did great in the Nineties, I didn't leverage my work into a network of contacts. Giant mistake as the Dot Com crash destroyed me professionally. I went from making $65/hr to being homeless living in the woods.

I reinvented myself by going back to college working towards a Ph.D. in mathematics. I ended up concluding that I didn't have the communication skills needed to teach mathematics or the publications needed to be a researcher.

Ultimately I had to give up being a computer professional. I could no longer get intellectually and financially appropriate work. I have continued to work on a number of projects over the last twenty years, so I have preserved much of my programming skills. I have had a popular website for twenty years on http://tetration.org covering what exists beyond exponentiation.

I learned that something one must be ready to completely reinvent themselves to have a chance at happiness.

[barrenko]

Let's say I fit the neurodivergent stereotype, and this sentence especially fits most of my attempted careers down to a T - "I ended up concluding that I didn't have the communication skills needed to do X".

At times (I feel like) I am a great communicator, the other times I can see people thinking I'm damn slow, and most of the time it's bimodal like that.

I am almost 36 as well, never finished a damn thing in my adult life.

[taurath]

This could be me as well - I’ve had a few careers and similar neurodivergencies, along with a nice smattering of trauma. This wasn’t asked for so take with a grain of salt, but as someone who had “rapid cycling bipolar II” as my closest dx which never felt entirely correct, I found looking into dissociation and dissociative disorders to actually fit the bill for me after decades of muddling around with “almost but not quite right” models. I only say so because it would have saved me a lot of time if someone had even mentioned the possibility to me.

[RGamma]

How tf do you come back from being "homeless in the woods" to "working towards a mathematics PhD"?

Also, as what did you reinvent yourself in the end?

[DanielGeisler]

I got a job working one on one with an autistic teenager. The first month I lived in the woods, but I did have a car to drive to work. A year later I returned to college and lived off student loans for some years. Academia didn't work out, but I made a number of connections with significant mathematicians. A large portion of mathematicians have little coding ability, so I help some amazing people out, learn lots of mathematics and have lots of fun. I just don't make any money, but I'm retired now so it is no longer an issue. I'm now a gentleman of leisure.

I have one of the main websites on tetration at http://tetration.org. Recently I worked on machine language comprehension of mathematics, https://fangornforest.org. I completed a four decade project working with Stephen Wolfram for Mathematica to support fractional iteration https://resources.wolframcloud.com/FunctionRepository/resour....

I now operate as a social activist helping people and non-profit organizations out.

[barrenko]

(Joke) Yes, usually the path is reverse.