I Found Out at 56. And It Changed Everything.

A personal reflection on discovering ADHD and autism later in life — and why it wasn't a setback. It was a revelation.

I’ve been lucky enough to do quite a lot in my life. I’ve built a design company from nothing, invented products, won awards and founded a charity I’m genuinely proud of. I’ve sat in rooms with remarkable people and had conversations I’ll never forget.

And yet, for most of that time, I had absolutely no idea why my brain worked the way it did.

At 56 years old, I discovered I have ADHD and autism.

I want to be honest about what that felt like. It wasn’t straightforward. There was a period of processing, of looking back at decades of my life through a completely new lens. Moments that had confused me. Patterns I’d never quite understood in myself. Struggles I’d quietly carried, often alone, because I simply didn’t have the language or framework to explain them.

But here’s what I want you to know, especially if you’re someone who has received a similar diagnosis — or suspects you might: it was not a setback. It was one of the most clarifying moments of my adult life.

The things that made me ‘different’ made me

Looking back with clarity, I can see that the very traits I sometimes struggled with — the restlessness, the way ideas fire in rapid succession, the deep focus on things that captivate me, the tendency to see connections others miss — were the same traits that drove everything I built. My ADHD wasn’t working against me. In many ways, it was working for me. I just didn’t know it.

My autism, too. The attention to detail. The commitment to doing things properly. The way I can immerse myself completely in a creative problem or a design challenge until it’s exactly right. These aren’t flaws to be managed. They are part of how I think and how I work.

Why I’m sharing this

I’m not sharing this for sympathy — I want to make that clear. My life has been rich, full, and, I think, genuinely useful. I feel fortunate every day.

I’m sharing it because I know there are people reading this — young entrepreneurs, students, business people at any stage of their career — who feel the friction of being wired differently and who interpret that friction as failure. Who wonder why things that seem effortless for others feel harder for them. Who mask, and adapt, and get on with it, because they don’t feel they have another option.

I want to say, as someone who has been there: please don’t wait 56 years to understand yourself.

Seek the answers. Talk to people. Get assessed if you’ve wondered. Because understanding how your mind works isn’t a weakness — it’s one of the most powerful advantages you can give yourself.

The Foundation and why this matters to our work

At The Graham Shapiro Foundation, mental health and wellbeing sit at the very heart of everything we do. We work with young entrepreneurs who are navigating enormous pressure — and we know that many of them are carrying invisible challenges they haven’t yet named.

My own story is one small part of a much bigger conversation. But I hope it’s useful. I hope it reaches someone who needs to hear it.

You are not broken. You are not behind. You are not ‘too much’ or ‘not enough.’

You are, in all likelihood, exactly the kind of mind this world needs more of.

— Professor Graham Shapiro

 

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