My experience with Autism is with my daughter who is 46 years old. She was diagnosed at the age of 5. We have endured a whole spider web of problems with getting support. It took us three years to get into a Psychologist to evalute my daughter for local services. We have just been approved but now we have another thing to figure out an navigate. I worry about her and my own future to the fact that I am starting to age. I’m getting to the point that I am close to not being able to care for her soon. I can’t tell her that because I don’t want her to be afraid. I am hoping that these services can help me further. I suffer from Caregivers syndrome, with this lovely feature of being chronically fatiqued.

People judge us caregivers way too often, try doing that job for a few months and tell me what it is like for you.

Then, I fell down the MCAD rabbithole (another major comorbdity that a leading researcher has firmly tied to autism – see Dr. Theoharis Theoharides in 2015), and the trend only continued. And I kept picking up yet more comorbidities. (Dysautonomia, weak immune system, CVID, autoimmune diseases, more.)

I humbly submit my observations here: http://ohtwist.com/the-chronic-constellation

And will say that I’m now followed by several hundred autists on Twitter and Facebook and my work has been used and presented in South Africa. I’ve yet to meet a hypermobile person who doesn’t have mild or more signs of neurodivergence (in my unprofessional and very unscientific opinion), or vice-versa. I haven’t met any autistic people or neurodivergent ones (cousins) without signs of mild or more hypermobility, or connective tissue disorder at a minimum. Most may just be swept under the rug and unrecognized yet.

And yes, many do much better once these very real medical comorbidities are addressed.