From personal experience I believe that early intervention and support is crucial within the early years of a person with Autism. Failure to recognise and build upon the special interest causes the Asperger person to feel at a loss later in life and to encounter low self esteem issues. In my own case, the school system, especially high school failed to build upon my own strengths and abilities. What I have encountered is that in adulthood, I have not found what I am good at in a career sense.
I believe that perhaps low self esteem is due to a result of the person with Autism feeling that they are not good at anything and perhaps a sense of feeling unconnected to the world around them. Again I cannot speak for all adults.
In my own case I was criticized for the way I thought when I was younger. My special interests were considered odd and being eccentric was simply something not to be tolerated in conservative and controlled Queensland. As a society we need to build upon a person's special interest more so than try and compress or eliminated it. Perhaps for adults they feel wounded as we cannot understand why people don't always think and become embraced with the interests we feel most passionate about.
I am constantly having to re-invent the way I think and I have come to accept that trying to undertake and follow expectations is just depressing. My thought process seems to fail in that I see the means of building up or working towards goals is perhaps unrealistic or unconventional. It is hard when you have a mind that is literal and responds to routine more so than unpredictability. I just realise that I have this condition and make the most of life where I can. Hopefully early intervention will become more of a reality and acceptance part of a community. We can only live in hope.
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