r/AutismIreland

i could wait years even decades and look back and my application would still be "under review" . is my deciding officer asleep?

and you know what frustrates me. my sister got her jobseekers in a week. ONE WEEK. 254 (the same rate we're being paid btw, #watdatmean) weekly. and me? well, ill have to wait 10 weeks to get potentially fucking DENIED my essential financial help because im not disabled enough. or because im too young. or because my deciding officer is a prick. we're getting paid the same rate people on jobseekers are being punished by, and pushed into going back to work by because "this isnt enough money to support anyone" yet thats what we're getting and yeah no ours is gonna take 10 weeks while yeah u can quit ur job and get it tomorrow

its almost like a slap in the face, it feels like people with disabilities arent looked upon like humans maybe more like a "finacial liability" and "lets draw this shit out until they forget about it and deny them life because we need to pour money into phone pouches in secondary schools and bike sheds (wtf even is that) and paying doll hoppers their weekly allowance"

i cant afford shit but its okay its fine its dandy i have another 33,550,336 weeks to wait dw

I have booked my sessions for my assessments and now im second guessing myself wether ive just imagined all of my traits and stuff is this a common thing

Hey everyone im just looking for adults that have had an autism/adhd assessment with Woodlea!

They seem to be a newish practice and the reviews seem very positive but they're all from parents of children who have been assessed.

I'm in my 20s and looking into getting assessed so a review from an adult whos gone though it would be great!

Hi all,

I am 31F and cannot swim, despite going to lessons from 2nd til 4th class in primary school.

The sensory hell of it all put me off - the feeling of water up my nose, the mandatory swimming caps and being too afraid to dive into the pool.

Now, as an adult, I am wondering if anywhere, preferably in the Dublin area, offers swimming lessons that are suitable for autistic people.

I am terrified at the prospect of going to a group exercise class as one time an instructor shouted in my face when we had to go to the gym for PE class.

Is my request a reasonable one?

54M recently diagnosed with ASD Level 1 and severe ADHD combined type.

Honestly, I never expected to be writing something like this at this stage of my life.

I spent decades working successfully in technical roles, building systems, solving problems, supporting a family, and generally functioning well enough that I fell under the radar.

After multiple college dropouts in the 90s, I leaned heavily into technology, which had been my lifelong special interest since childhood. What started as obsession and curiosity eventually became a successful career spanning three decades, mostly self-taught. Looking back now, I can see that tech wasn’t just a career path for me, it was also a coping mechanism, a source of structure, stimulation, predictability, and identity.

A serious car accident last year changed something.

After the accident, I initially went to therapy because I suspected I might be dealing with PTSD. That unexpectedly led me down a path of deeper self-examination, and eventually toward an AuDHD assessment.

It felt like the systems I had unconsciously built over a lifetime stopped working properly. Since then I’ve struggled with focus, task initiation, cognitive overload, anxiety, recovery from work stress, and maintaining the level of functioning I used to take for granted.

For the first time in my life, I found myself staring at work I knew how to do, but unable to properly engage with it unless the pressure became overwhelming.

The diagnosis has been both validating and unsettling.

On one hand, it explains decades of experiences that never fully made sense. On the other hand, it forces you to re-evaluate your entire life through a completely different lens.

One of the strangest parts is realizing how much of my life was powered by stress, structure, masking, and intense effort, which I thought was normal and something everyone struggled with. I had spent so long adapting that I mistook adaptation for personality.

I’m curious if other late-diagnosed adults experienced something similar — especially people who managed to build careers and families before eventually realizing how much effort it was actually taking just to stay functional.

I really hate how hard I find friendships. When I got my autism diagnosis, I thought I finally had an answer to why I found them so difficult and maybe things would turn around for me. No such luck. If anything, being more open about my autism has cost me friends. Can't seem to get it right.

I'm a 16 year old girl who just got diagnosed with autism, the physcologist said i have "aspergers type". I suffer from panic attacks about twice a week. I'm on medication but that barely helps. I find it very hard to work because of my sensory issues and because of how emotional i am. I'm smart enough , I go to school and I plan to try and go to college to be a vet. The reason I want to be a vet is because I've got alot of work experience in that area and it's the one thing I'd be able to do in life. Life is very hard for me to navigate to be honest. I have the report from my psychologist and she says stuff about me being bad with people and about my immaturity and things like that. Would I qualify for disability payment?

Hi,
My 16-year old daughter just got diagnosed with autism. She feels quite lonely. I was wondering if there were autistic teen groups where she could meet friends? She loves mathematics, dancing, music, drawing, writing poetry and reading and more. Thanks

I am a 33 year old newly diagnosed with autism and adhd. The psychologist gave me a pamphlet of resources to look at but I am looking for advice on next steps I should look at or things to be aware of. It was 2 days ago I was diagnosed and I’m actively distracting myself from the spiral of grief I can feel incoming. Any advice from people who have gone through this before would be appreciated.

Hey guys, I made a post here 9 days ago asking for some support/advice on what to expect from dropping in a CV to a local fish shop for a cleaning job.

Well I dropped in and handed over my CV, they were really nice but already had someone trialling but they still took my CV. I didn't really expect to hear from them since they already were trialling someone but I got contacted today on short notice because the person (or someone else, maybe they're trialling multiple people idk?) dropped out last minute and they asked if I could do a trial shift (2hrs) this evening, or another evening this week.

I said yes to this evening because I know if I wait I'll end up building up all my nerves until the day actually comes and I'll end up even more nervous than I already am. But obviously this is incredibly unexpected!! And I don't know what to do or say, I'm assuming I'll be shadowing someone since the ad said training provided - so I doubt they'd throw me in the deep end?

All I know is I have to wear old clothes (but I assume I still have to make a good impression so I'm not so sure how to find the balance between old clothes and still professional looking) and that I'll be cleaning 🤷 I'm so nervous because I've never done a cleaning job before and I don't know how much I'm actually supposed to already no because 'no experience necessary' never seems to actually mean no experience, at least in the past it's felt that way.

I'm also a bit worried because when I dropped the CV in she made a comment that I need to be able to lift up the big trays - you know the ones filled with ice and fish and stuff- and said they're heavy and I need to be strong. Idk how heavy those things are so idk if I'll be able to lift them!!! I do workout but I only started in January and I'm unfortunately fairly scrawny which I feel like is why she brought that up, but I'm worried I'll embarrass myself and not be able to lift it.

If anyone has done a similar job/trial shift like this could you give any tips? Anything I need to know, ect. I am aware I am once again overthinking and panicking btw lol, I think the unexpected-ness of it all isn't helping to be fair.

Hi All, I'm giving up on waiting on an assessment through the public system. Does anyone have any recommendations for assessment options for a child. Preferably near Waterford but willing to do online & travel for the actual assessment.

Hi everyone. I have my autism assessment in a few weeks and since I booked it months ago I’ve been constantly thinking about it and feeling so stressed and anxious. Wondering if I’ve got this all wrong, will I get any answers.. I just randomly burst out crying (happens a lot lately) to my husband, he asked what’s wrong, I said I just wish I had someone to talk to who could understand. I’m just so confused at why I feel the way I do and the needing an answer is driving me crazy. How do I take my mind off things and distract myself away from all of this? I feel like I’m constantly thinking about it, looking up autism, reading about autism, listening to podcasts about autism.. all this and I might not even be autistic! I just wish I wasn’t so confused and worried. I can’t understand why I just can’t let things go! Does anyone else feel like they can’t let things go?

I've moved to Ireland this year and trying to make new friends... Which becomes that bit harder as you get older (40) this year.

What are people doing for fun or to meet new people?

Hi,

where do people go for therapeutic treatment for high functioning autism with co-occuring treatment resistant depression and anxiety. Long history of psychiatric medications (duloxitine, sertaline, buproprion, mirtazapine and prior some thc/hhc use as coping mechanism (found this most effective but has been labelled as addiction without further explanation). Where can you go to get help as an autistic Irish person seeking treatment for primarily depression?

Thank you.

a bit of a stupid situation haha but i'm wondering has anyone ever gone about changing the photo of their PSC/FTC before the expiry date?

I got DA last year and they automatically sent me a psc with a photo from nearly 10 years ago. I'm 23 and I look different enough now that my bus driver gives me questioning looks whenever I show him the card.

I thought I'd get an opportunity to get a recent photo on my ID for my learner's permit, but they used the same damn thing and i'm lowkey sick of looking at it and being judged half the time i use it. I always need to carry my passport bc I've been asked to prove it's me twice and that's the only recent photo ID I have.

Is it worth calling the number on the back to see if i can do it, or will they just tell me I can't do anything til it expires in 2 years? I'd happily pay a fee to get it sorted at this point