| I was late diagnosed with autism at 35 due to sleeping difficulties. I don't have a lot of social difficulties. I currently have some at work but before this job I didn't have issues. I have 0 dating difficulties, mostly because I tackled that issue in my early teens studied everything I could find and at one point I just got it. I'm not sensitive to light or smells. I am slightly sensitive to sound such as sirens from an ambulance. My special interest revolves around learning anything and everything (basically the Hacker News ethos about being curious), which is also atypical as it isn't a restrictive interest. The comments here need to be a bit careful with what autism is as it can present itself very differently in people. In part this is because the medical establishment doesn't know a lot yet about what it is. Only quite recently did they find that there's 4 subtypes [1]. It's funny. My wife, non-autistic, tells me I'm one of the most emotionally intelligent men she knows. She keeps saying that. In part, I trained it through meditation (1000 hours in), in part it's just really about paying attention. She hasn't been the only one. I've also met one person at times saying I lack empathy and come across as robotic at times. But I can tell you, in general, I empathize and feel things. I have noticed that I can't always communicate well that I understand what other people mean. When I was younger they went on to explain it to me and it was always really annoying since I understood but people thought I didn't. I often go against the grain with things because I think things are foolish. If I'd have done otherwise, I'd have definitely been trapped into the toxic masculine culture and drink a lot more alcohol. So often times what I do may not look empathetic or sympathetic but that's because many people don't care that they are toxic themselves and then just put the emotional burden to me. Related to empathy: ever since I got the autism diagnosis, to the people I've told, I've seen an uptick in them saying I'm not empathetic at times by one person. So sharing your diagnosis does give some people a prejudice over you that shouldn't really be there. [1] https://www.princeton.edu/news/2025/07/09/major-autism-study... |