It wasn’t until I became a homeless person that I was finally diagnosed, correctly, as someone with Autism Spectrum Disorder. It took 5 montsh to get an “official” diagnosis, but after an LCSW suggested that it was likely, my own research confirmed her suspicions beyond a shadow of any doubt. Getting the Ph.D. to confirm it after 6 hours of torturous testing seemed a pointless exercise.

Up to that point, I had spent a very long, lonely lifetime wondering why I inevitably failed at every relationship that I ever attempted. Unable to understand my problem with group situations, fluorescent lights, affection, certain foods, noises, and textures; life was largely a miasma of bravado attempts to appear “normal” in between panic attacks.

What the author states about the struggles of High-Functioning Autism is certainly correct. I have a computer science degree, 6 years of college and 12 professional certifications. I worked as a materials analyst for G.E. A server engineer for Dell and yet I still became homeless.

As a homeless person, I met genuine linguistic polyglots, a former attorney, plumbers, electricians, and technicians. I met a lot of people like myself, ASD and struggling daily just to move, sometimes.

Many among the homeless are people whose mental illness has overwhelmed them and they just need adequate care to lead a productive life.