In my forties, I was blessed to kind of fall into a job as a traveling salesperson. What a perfect job that was for me. I still struggled with aspects of my job, mainly the big company meetings held twice a year, where I was in close proximity almost 24/7 with other employees. My boss called me into his office, thinking I was getting fired, I complied. He suggested that I did a great job, but that knowing why I struggled sometimes might help me. He noticed that I was different socially when he visited me and when in a larger group, and that he suspected I was on the spectrum.
I truly believe he might have saved me from years more of wondering why I was so different and struggling to be “normal” get along.
I found a mental health professional that tested me and counseled me about having autism. I did have some struggles with my family, mostly I just had to say “we are all just doing the best we can”. I don’t know if they ever really understood but they did quit pushing me to be who they wanted me to be.
I have been incredibly blessed to have a supportive husband who always was happy to let me be who I am, we have always had our own interests and that made us better together.
I am blessed to now have work where I set my own hours as long as I meet deadlines which are very generous. I get to stretch my brain around a ton of new information all the time, and I am not in the office with others. I used to have meetings twice yearly but the pandemic ended those………yay!
Knowing I had Asperger’s and that I cannot function in some situations but thrive in others has helped me immensely.
This is kind of long winded but you will find a lot of reading about this on the autism group here on connect. I know another mentor posted this above, but here it is again. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/autism/
Do you have a mental health clinic in your area where you could talk to someone about this?