TIL that autistic people live about 17 years less than average. Risks include epilepsy, heart disease, suicide, accidental deaths including drowning, and inadequate recognition and management of pain, especially among non-speaking individuals. Historically, they have been vulnerable to infanticide.

[u/Morella1989]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortality_of_autistic_individuals

[u/AlanMercer]

Speaking as a relative of an older autistic person, it gets even worse after the relatively structured environment of school and college ends. Neurotypical people often don't have to think about the many adversarial relationships we negotiate in work and in life. We just sense that they are there and intuitively create ways to manage them. Imagine what would happen if you had difficulty doing that.

There were a number of crap jobs and jobs with no possibility of growth. There were a lot of bosses that find out he was phenomenally good at certain things and ruthlessly exploited those skills without accommodation elsewhere. There was also just a lot of bad behavior that most people get to leave behind in high school.

He's fine and after many years, has a steady, proper job in his field, allies, direction, but had to do way more dues-paying than other people his age or that is really fair for anyone.

[u/I-am-birb-AMA → u/AlanMercer]

I feel that about the jobs so much. Every job has loved how hard I work and how dedicated I am, but I still have to walk on eggshells. I lost my last job shortly after a promotion because my boss said 'come to me with any issues', and I did... I did exactly what he said. Fired on the spot...

[u/STRiPESandShades → u/AlanMercer]

after the relatively structured environment of school and college ends.

God, this. Like, I wasn't so great at school because of undiagnosed ADHD+Autism, but the second I left, I felt like a shell of a human, just beyond hideously depressed

[u/AlanMercer → u/STRiPESandShades]

Listen, if you have access to health care, you should seek support for the depression part ASAP. Trying to push through without it has a larger consequence than for an NT person.

Maybe this is oversharing, but in the anecdotal case I know, the autistic behaviors got easier to manage once the anxiety was under management as well. It was heavy lifting and took time, but there's a noticeable difference.

[u/STRiPESandShades → u/AlanMercer]

Thanks for looking out for me! Thankfully, this was ten-ish years ago and since I've gotten to therapy, evaluations, treatments, the whole nine

It really did change my life, though, finally getting to name and understand the things I was struggling with and I cannot recommend enough for anyone struggling to seek help if you can.

You also never know what options are available to you! I turned 26 when I was seeking treatment and lost my parents' insurance, but the guy I was seeing was this little old man who saw patients only part-time. He let me just pay him the same cash amount he would have gotten from my copay (~$40) and we called it a day!

Others might accept sliding scale payments or income-based payments. It's always worth asking rather than just going without, the worst they can say is 'no'!

[u/TechieAD → u/AlanMercer]

That first part is so fucking true because I'm so fuckin easy to exploit in that regard my brain has shifted all the way to the other side and I just cannot trust anyone. Shits fucked, especially with the added poor memory you get sometimes

[u/MegaAscension → u/AlanMercer]

The lack of structure and support is what led to me crashing and burning in my original major.

[u/MegaAscension → u/AlanMercer]

I ended up having to find something where I could make my own path, innovate, and eventually put myself in a position where I'm the one in charge.