The Auti Peri Q&A needs you!

Cat photos for tax! 🐈 🐈

Harry, my emotional support kitty!

I am not the only Taskmaster fan in my house!

Hello to you!

How are you today? (Not a small talk prompt - how are you really feeling?)

This week we don’t have an Auti Peri Q&A post sadly.

I am desperate for more volunteers to please share your stories as we continue to compile a bank of lived experiences.

I felt so alone when my neurodivergent perimenopause started, nobody else I knew was feeling exactly as I was: confused, scared and spiralling.

No websites nor books existed yet that reflected and normalised my reality. Temporary regressions to my functioning, capacity, self-care skills and mood overlapped, while I worked extra hard to find the community supports and medical guidance to catch me as I fell.

Eventually I found a fantastic doctor with an interest in the intersection of neurodivergence and the menopause transition.

She validated me.

She believed that things really were as bad as I was reporting, and told me that I was following a similar trajectory to many of her late diagnosed ND patients. Reassuring me that there was a range of treatment options to buffer my hormones and enhance my mood, my quality of life started to improve.

As I regained lost social communication skills and cognitive capacity, I set up The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression.

Being a deep empath, the thought of other people feeling as hormonally hopeless and helpless upset me endlessly, and I wanted to alleviate other people’s pain.

Now that I have been building our incredible community for just over a year, I am delighted that I have proof that there are others who have survived autistic perimenopause, and emerged into post-menopause relatively unscathed. Phew!

Currently, I am feeling extreme trepidation, with one calendar month to go until I see a gynaecologist. In the meantime, I need to formulate a case for having a surgical menopause (hysterectomy) that I can clearly communicate on the day. I am having to channel all of my self-advocacy skills as I rehearse the discussion over and over in my head. It is exhausting.

Before my perimenopausal mental health declines further, at the risk of my own life, I want to be able to anticipate an end to it all. I need closure and agency, because my life has been put on pause while I battle my hormonal flux.

The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression continues to be an incredible outlet for me, and I am delighted to have received so many supportive messages from readers since I started writing and sharing here a year ago. I love getting to know new readers, as we all share our trauma and wins for the collective good.

I believe that all of our menopause stories are unique and highly nuanced. I am dedicated to sharing a range of lived experiences, because if the only voice you heard was my miserable - and often defeated tones - you wouldn’t want to stick around for too long!

So this is a plea for more volunteers to please, please reach out to me if you would like to take part in the Auti Peri Q&A!

💕

Here is my own story:

It is looong because of my tendency to monologue combined with my resistance to edit enough. But you can tell us succinctly what your menopause story is up until the present day, sharing as little or as much detail as you feel comfortable with.

You can find all the Auti Peri Q&As here.

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This is the email I send out to respondents:

The Auti Peri Q&A Feature:

Please tell me about your experience of autistic perimenopause.

1) What does “autistic perimenopause” mean to you?

2) When did your autistic perimenopause symptoms start and what were/are they?

3) What happened if/when you presented with autistic perimenopause to a healthcare professional?

4) What has your treatment protocol been in managing your autistic perimenopause? (Medical, lifestyle, alternative therapies etc.)

5) How has your everyday life been impacted by autistic perimenopause (your caring/employment responsibilities, hobbies, relationships etc.)?

6) Are there things that make or have made your menopause transition especially difficult for you as an autistic person? If so, what kinds of things?

7) Are there things that could make or could have made your menopause transition easier for you as an autistic person? If so, what kinds of things?

8) What supports, resources and services are available to people experiencing autistic perimenopause where you live?

9) What kinds of services, resources or supports would you find most helpful?

10) What is the easiest way for you to access information about autistic menopause?

11) What would you wish for all people to know about autistic perimenopause?

12) Is there anything else you’d like to share regarding your autistic experiences of menopause?

💕

Please can you also send me your:

- personal pronouns

- location

- a bio

- a photo of you

- any links to your socials you’d like to share/promote

- an MP3 audio voiceover if you’d like to (absolutely not essential!)

Thanks so much! 💕

If this is too big a demand right now, please don’t prioritise it xx

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Cat tax, as promised!

Meow x2!

Thanks for giving me time in your day, I always appreciate it! I know how finite our capacity is right now…

Take care of yourself.

Love,

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