Agreed. At least one of them has been in for assessment, not sure about the other but the signs are there.

And I should probably clarify. There’s other (undiagnosed) mental illness that runs in my family, and one side in particular is rife with substance abuse. Whether the root of those issues can be traced to “benign” forms of neurodivergence is moot outside of genetics: the learned behavioral patterns of abuse and violence were pretty deeply ingrained. I only got to see some of it growing up, but it was enough. I wanted nothing to do with any of it. My brother fell into the drug trap in early adulthood. My sister was the youngest, and was thankfully shielded from the worst of the family bullshit. She still did the same thing my mom did though: had kids way too young with a meathead, and not enough money.

I am trying to be a role model for my nephew in particular, but as my shit isn’t exactly together it’s an uphill battle. There’s a whole world of toxic influencers out there taking in the bucks by telling him who and what to blame his problems on, all available at the tap of a screen. And then there’s… gestures vaguely at the world at large …yeah.