u/ForestHarp

I discovered this week through research about autism - "omg this is me!" .

I fed my life stories, and my blog essays into AI to analyse, and AI (I crossed checked against different AI apps) , and the apps confirm "ND- autistic". The pattern coherence is overwhelming.

I'm 49F and struggled socially all my life, feeling I'm "weird".

I even restructured my life in my late 40s , left corporate world to retire early to live a simple peaceful life with very small passive income.

Realising that my life decisions, life struggles, and my operating brain system are all due to autism is a huge relief. Everything fits now. I'm not "weird". Just different.

But when I told my friends, they refuse to believe I'm autistic.

"Nah, you are very normal. I know autistic people, you are nothing like them."

"Why is everyone neurodivergent these days? Even Elon Musk claims he's autistic."

" Don't believe that pop psychology. You have no official diagnosis. "

"AI is not reliable."

I could double down and explain all about masking and my life stories and struggles.

But I think it's probably not worth the argument.

Perhaps they are trying to protect me because Autism is commonly seen as a mental illness or disorder in Singapore. (I searched for local threads in Reddit about autism and read about several suicides. Saddening.)

To their credit, I know if I insist I'm autistic, they will respect my choice of belief even if they cannot understand.

Only one friend responded positively. Maybe because she herself suffered from anxiety disorder so she feels it's nothing to feel bad about.

I don't think I need my friends to validate me. I'm kinda very emotionally independent generally. Though it would be really nice if they can understand and validate. Few ppl can understand me anyway, I'm used to it.

I guess I will keep this autistic thing a private thing from now on and just use it to understand myself and navigate life better.

Since my life is now good n happy ever since I restructured my life, I feel no need to get an official diagnosis.

No need for advice, but open. Just venting n need listening ear :) thanks for listening :)

Hi, I'm looking to get into a fun sport that help increase my body strength, improve muscle mass because I'm low muscle mass, which is a risk for osteoporosis.

I'm 49F.

I thought of climbing. Reconnect to the child inside me who loved climbing up and down. Tried rock climbing one time in my youth and it was fun for me.

I went to Boulder Movement and Boulder planet and was surprised to see it's mostly teenagers n young ppl there. I don't want to be the one single Gen X aunty surrounded by Gen Zs and alphas lol.

So I thought maybe I should try rock climbing instead.

Can anyone advise where to go to for

SNCS level 1 course and which rockclimbing places

with the oldest adults?