I was recently diagnosed following my son’s diagnosis and everything has sort of just been clicking into place. I’m new to all this so I wanted to know if this was a common experience for other people.
I masked heavily when I first met my wife, and apparently she noticed since she always felt there was something off about me. Now that we’re comfortably living together and I’ve learned more about who I am, I’ve sort of just started to let the mask slip.
Things I would’ve just let fester inside (like messes or spills) I’m more open about verbalizing my distaste for. I’m also clearer to my wife about how I am listening but I need to focus to actually register what she’s saying (and I’m making the effort to do so). And I’ve started to be more organized about my dailies because otherwise I’m a scatterbrained mess.
Again, my wife has noticed (eyes of a hawk, that one) and finds it amusing. She says I look happier but she does poke fun about how I waited until we were married before my true self came out.
I was just curious if this was something common? The best way I was able to explain it to her was that I didn’t feel like I had to be fake around her the way I do at work or when meeting new people. Is this normal for us on the spectrum?