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Reading research literature, I get a bit down reflecting on a common observation:

It is a clinical observation that not only do many men [with the condition] have problems with accessing the job market and keeping a job, but already in the classroom many boys struggle. This seems to translate to affected socioeconomic status.

For me, that reality was already long self-evident. I inhabit a completely different plane as compared to my parents and siblings. This being the case despite a privileged upbringing, each of us accessing the same opportunities.

As these neurocognitive challenges affect not only the early years of schooling and education, a challenged socioeconomic status in many men with [the condition] must be anticipated.

Reflecting on all that has been written about the effects of the condition, you start to feel like the odds were stacked against you from the outset. Whatever the claims of personal contentment, it can’t not effect you. At family gatherings, you feel like a total failure.

Only… only here I recall my actual youthful ambitions. One such yearning: to live in a little house with a cottage garden out front. And all of a sudden it occurs to me that, alhamdulillah, that’s exactly what we’ve been bestowed with.

Eventually you realise that, yes, ideas about socioeconomic status are not particularly helpful to your sense of self-worth. Perhaps you may find other ways to measure success. Much easier on a beautiful day like this, with the flowers coming into bloom.