Mr. Atwood - I am a 56 yr old Aspie professional project manager. I have also been a manager. I have learned the skills to manage and despite being an expert who makes a good living, I cannot seem to go beyond team leadership. I mask very well and it is exhausting. I highly suggest that if Aspies want to be very successful, they don’t look at climbing the corporate ladder the traditional way. It takes too much political navigation, networking, and personal positional power. No one wants to follow the weird kid.
I am a professional project manager with Asperger’s. I am 56 years old. I have been a manager as well. I am very good at masking. The difficult part of managing is two fold. You can’t mask well enough to be the natural born leader of a group. People know intuitively that you are different. No one wants to follow the weird person no matter how skilled you are. Especially if you are a woman. I suggest that it is far too exhausting with limited success therefore find another way of being successful.
Once again thank you. As always great selection of questions and very helpful answers. I too love the last one, as a Christian it’s a wonderful thought that Jesus could be Autistic! Love that idea! As an older and late diagnosed Autistic, I want to say to all you younger people, be kind to yourself, you are great just the way you are. You are not a mistake, or defective in any way, you are who you are and that is wonderful. Look at your gifting and embrace who you are.
Wonderful and so helpful again. Thankyou Craig and dr T, and everyone who sent questions!! I’m working through the “Autism Working” book at the moment and would definitely recommend it to any autistic people who feel they are not thriving at work. It has already helped me a lot.
I had my question answered again -- this time it was about creating personas and identities, in order to fit into a subculture (30.12). I would 'like' this video twice if I could -- very grateful, thank you.
I really appreciate you approaching the topic of ASD and Eating Disorders. I wish there was a course to do in Australia to become a coach for Eating Disorder recovery/ASD individuals. I have lived experience with both, passion too, but no idea how to get into it! Thanks again Dr Tony 😊
i think of myself as being on a higher spiritual frequency. more aligned with the spirit. pink light is the highest aura which is the one i identify as having. pure love, innocence.
With regards to the subject discussed about removing ASD diagnosis, this means that Autism, albeit lifelong plus cannot be grown out of plus cannot be cured, is no longer translating into a 'clinically significant' impairment, nor that even masked behaviours are translating into comorbid obsessions or anxiety, mainly because of self help tools, like books, that can teach strategies so as to more effectively manage the impairments and behaviours that are consistent with Autism. There are individuals with Autism who can function independently with day to day life and not be suffering from clinical anxiety or obsessions that have clinical ties with the condition. We all want individuals to be as independent as possible and not be in absolute clinical need for specialist supports or services. It is possible that a person with Autism can suffer from OCD that is clinically not related to Autism. We all want Autism to be like as if COVID is no longer in the emergency phase of the pandemic; in other words, no more public health needs for social and economic restrictions (including indoor mask wearing - except public transport and healthcare facilities, earlier hospitality closing times, etc). Before the COVID pandemic, we were very blase about winter bugs - no mask wearing for very high risk settings like public transport and healthcare facilities.
I am a woman in my early 60s. I was recognized as Asperger's when I was late 50s. I have always used food as a part of masking my intensely felt differences from my peers. I have gone down the road of overeating and binge eating, without any form of purging. I have been significantly overweight since the age of 7, obese by time I was in Jr. High, morbidly obese since my 20s. I reached a peak weight in my early 50s, since have lost 35 lbs and maintained that. I am still morbidly obese. I wish I could get back down to an even 200 lbs. I feel my health would be improved. But my motivation to actually change my eating and exercise habits is lacking. In my younger years I did try a variety of dieting strategies, and even took up walking on the rural rock roads near my home up to ( sometimes) 5 miles in a day to try to control my weight. Any ideas how I can shift my thinking so sensible eating prevails?
Thankyou so much for your videos! I was just wondering if you could edit this video to remove or bleep out the specific weight of the person with anorexia. People with eating disorders, or eating disorder histories, very often find that mentions of specific weights trigger their eating disorder thoughts and/or behaviours.
Thank you for the helpful comment, Caitlin. I've had very poor success with youtube's editing tool. And I don't want the jeopardize the integrity of the rest of the video. So unfortunately, it will have to stay. In the future, I will remember not to include such metrics.
Sorry, have yet to watch this or read your printed work because I have recently become partially blind but looking for ways to cope. Although my son has never been “officially “ diagnosed because it wasn’t a “cool” psychological area of study it was obvious he was “different” from birth. A medical major congenital issue was an underdeveloped sphincter muscle which caused him to projectile vomit after every feeding his first year, every day until he was 5 and then occasionally up into Senior High School. He was diagnosed with ulcers at 4 by a gastroenterologist using an endoscopic procedure. At times the pain could be overwhelming. He was also subject to many ear infections resulting in 3 surgeries by the time he was 5 or 6, with the final surgery culminating in the removal of one eardrum because he had developed a Cholesteatoma affecting his hearing and a new one formed using plastic surgery. Sorry to get so long to the question but I thought having some background up front might provide a better basis for my inquiry, which is have you looked at how physical impairments impact Asperger’s? Because I could not find physical or mental assistance for my son, I had to try to fit the puzzle of why I have such a fantastic, little boy (now man) who looked at the world and never saw a “box”. Areas I explored were the possibilities of an overactive Vagus Nerve, Esophageal or Laryngeal Reflux, especially since the relationship between some gastro issues is much higher in males, especially if the baby boy is the first born. Poor eyesight or other ocular problems revealed at an early age might be a consideration as well. My son does not like sunlight and since I now have vision problems, I keep the drapes drawn in the house and always wear sunglasses when out. I have noticed it is difficult to look up and very difficult to focus as well. Any insight is greatly appreciated as well as the work you are doing. I will keep your son and family in my prayers. Kathleen Gallant
Mr. Atwood - I am a 56 yr old Aspie professional project manager. I have also been a manager. I have learned the skills to manage and despite being an expert who makes a good living, I cannot seem to go beyond team leadership. I mask very well and it is exhausting. I highly suggest that if Aspies want to be very successful, they don’t look at climbing the corporate ladder the traditional way. It takes too much political navigation, networking, and personal positional power. No one wants to follow the weird kid.
Clicking 'like' before I watch, because I know it will be good.
We love our autism community. :)
I am a professional project manager with Asperger’s. I am 56 years old. I have been a manager as well. I am very good at masking. The difficult part of managing is two fold. You can’t mask well enough to be the natural born leader of a group. People know intuitively that you are different. No one wants to follow the weird person no matter how skilled you are. Especially if you are a woman. I suggest that it is far too exhausting with limited success therefore find another way of being successful.
Once again thank you. As always great selection of questions and very helpful answers. I too love the last one, as a Christian it’s a wonderful thought that Jesus could be Autistic! Love that idea!
As an older and late diagnosed Autistic, I want to say to all you younger people, be kind to yourself, you are great just the way you are. You are not a mistake, or defective in any way, you are who you are and that is wonderful. Look at your gifting and embrace who you are.
I think autism IS a positive attribute and should be embraced.
Wonderful and so helpful again. Thankyou Craig and dr T, and everyone who sent questions!!
I’m working through the “Autism Working” book at the moment and would definitely recommend it to any autistic people who feel they are not thriving at work. It has already helped me a lot.
This is such a fantastic resource, thank you so much for posting.
Always looking forward to the Dr. Tony Show! Great insights.
The anxiety is due to being afraid of people
Thank you so much! The first topic is a huge Problem for me.
Hope you stay well Dr Tony, and that you can make a great recovery. Really appreciate your knowledge on autism. Thanks Craig love the channel.
I had my question answered again -- this time it was about creating personas and identities, in order to fit into a subculture (30.12). I would 'like' this video twice if I could -- very grateful, thank you.
WE ARE THE REVELEANCE OF THE TRUTH !
These videos are so very much appreciated 💕 thank-you💕
I really appreciate you approaching the topic of ASD and Eating Disorders. I wish there was a course to do in Australia to become a coach for Eating Disorder recovery/ASD individuals. I have lived experience with both, passion too, but no idea how to get into it!
Thanks again Dr Tony 😊
Commenting to second this, likewise lived experience and would love to attend such a thing :)
i think of myself as being on a higher spiritual frequency. more aligned with the spirit. pink light is the highest aura which is the one i identify as having. pure love, innocence.
(we're like jesus on a spiritual level not a neurological one)
doesn't mean we're as holy as him (just to clarify) haha
With regards to the subject discussed about removing ASD diagnosis, this means that Autism, albeit lifelong plus cannot be grown out of plus cannot be cured, is no longer translating into a 'clinically significant' impairment, nor that even masked behaviours are translating into comorbid obsessions or anxiety, mainly because of self help tools, like books, that can teach strategies so as to more effectively manage the impairments and behaviours that are consistent with Autism. There are individuals with Autism who can function independently with day to day life and not be suffering from clinical anxiety or obsessions that have clinical ties with the condition. We all want individuals to be as independent as possible and not be in absolute clinical need for specialist supports or services. It is possible that a person with Autism can suffer from OCD that is clinically not related to Autism. We all want Autism to be like as if COVID is no longer in the emergency phase of the pandemic; in other words, no more public health needs for social and economic restrictions (including indoor mask wearing - except public transport and healthcare facilities, earlier hospitality closing times, etc). Before the COVID pandemic, we were very blase about winter bugs - no mask wearing for very high risk settings like public transport and healthcare facilities.
Many thanks for all this. It has greatly helped me.
I am a woman in my early 60s. I was recognized as Asperger's when I was late 50s. I have always used food as a part of masking my intensely felt differences from my peers. I have gone down the road of overeating and binge eating, without any form of purging. I have been significantly overweight since the age of 7, obese by time I was in Jr. High, morbidly obese since my 20s. I reached a peak weight in my early 50s, since have lost 35 lbs and maintained that. I am still morbidly obese. I wish I could get back down to an even 200 lbs. I feel my health would be improved. But my motivation to actually change my eating and exercise habits is lacking. In my younger years I did try a variety of dieting strategies, and even took up walking on the rural rock roads near my home up to ( sometimes) 5 miles in a day to try to control my weight. Any ideas how I can shift my thinking so sensible eating prevails?
i was born with jaundice and in an incubator for my first 3 weeks. i wonder what the correlation is with autism
Could you ask this very interesting question on the internet site, where they check all questions? Here they do not get it
. I am curious too....
Thankyou so much for your videos!
I was just wondering if you could edit this video to remove or bleep out the specific weight of the person with anorexia. People with eating disorders, or eating disorder histories, very often find that mentions of specific weights trigger their eating disorder thoughts and/or behaviours.
Thank you for the helpful comment, Caitlin. I've had very poor success with youtube's editing tool. And I don't want the jeopardize the integrity of the rest of the video. So unfortunately, it will have to stay. In the future, I will remember not to include such metrics.
I can't recommend EMDR and PMR for folks that suffer from epilepsy and/or have similar problems. Be careful if that applies to you.
Sorry, have yet to watch this or read your printed work because I have recently become partially blind but looking for ways to cope.
Although my son has never been “officially “ diagnosed because it wasn’t a “cool” psychological area of study it was obvious he was “different” from birth. A medical major congenital issue was an underdeveloped sphincter muscle which caused him to projectile vomit after every feeding his first year, every day until he was 5 and then occasionally up into Senior High School. He was diagnosed with ulcers at 4 by a gastroenterologist using an endoscopic procedure. At times the pain could be overwhelming. He was also subject to many ear infections resulting in 3 surgeries by the time he was 5 or 6, with the final surgery culminating in the removal of one eardrum because he had developed a Cholesteatoma affecting his hearing and a new one formed using plastic surgery.
Sorry to get so long to the question but I thought having some background up front might provide a better basis for my inquiry, which is have you looked at how physical impairments impact Asperger’s? Because I could not find physical or mental assistance for my son, I had to try to fit the puzzle of why I have such a fantastic, little boy (now man) who looked at the world and never saw a “box”. Areas I explored were the possibilities of an overactive Vagus Nerve, Esophageal or Laryngeal Reflux, especially since the relationship between some gastro issues is much higher in males, especially if the baby boy is the first born. Poor eyesight or other ocular problems revealed at an early age might be a consideration as well. My son does not like sunlight and since I now have vision problems, I keep the drapes drawn in the house and always wear sunglasses when out. I have noticed it is difficult to look up and very difficult to focus as well.
Any insight is greatly appreciated as well as the work you are doing. I will keep your son and family in my prayers.
Kathleen Gallant
❤️
Too late the book
why are you so handsome?! XD