As scary as Bil's future could be, at least one thing happened to him that didn't happen to many other people in their 50's, 60's, and 70's and beyond.
He was diagnosed. And, thanks to a family friend, he was diagnosed as an adult but before the age of 21.
If he hadn't been, the services he could have received in his native New York State would have been limited.
What about all the adults who were never diagnosed properly? It is a scary story, now being told by the LA Times.
They are adults with autism - hiding in plain sight.
Some have lived their entire adult lives in institutions, diagnosed as mentally ill. Schizophrenia is a favorite. Also popular (the article uses this term) was the diagnosis of mental retardation.
Some are on the streets, homeless.
Some can function only thanks to friends - guardian angels as you will.
Some are finally diagnosed, after relatives are diagnosed.
It's hard to believe, in this day and age of the "autism epidemic" how these men and women fell through the cracks of our society but their world, and the world of Bil's childhood, was a very different place than the world of today.
The link above is to a harrowing story.
It should be a must read. Read it, and be horrified.
I read it, and was thankful Bil did not suffer this fate.
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