Not sure who i am any more

Firstly congratulations on your identification. I know so many people who would love to be assessed and to find out for sure. Locally to me, the waiting time is 3 years for children, adults...well who knows? It is almost impossible unless you go private, which is what I did. It is one thing believing you are autistic, quite another being told you brain is not wired quite the same as everyone else's. Its both a shock and a relief.

I have met or spoken to very few people who were not pleased to be diagnosed. Remember you are still the same person, nothing has changed, you are still you. What is different is that you now have been given a gift, the gift to understand yourself and to make sense of the world around you. It's also an opportunity to be kind to yourself, not to put yourself through things that upset you or cause you difficulty, to forgive yourself for any interactions which, er...could have gone better! Of course, it is going to take time to adjust, its bound too. You have just been told something really big, it would be a little worrying if you did not consider this as a time for reflection. 

Try not to do what I did, and that's to analyse everything you do or say to death. I knew far too much about autism for my own good when I was diagnosed, I nearly drove myself mad with it. As for masking, well I won't bore you with my life story, but... masking nearly killed me. Trying to pretend I am someone who I am not, placing myself in positions and environments I knew I couldn't handle and continually trying to bluff my way through got me in the end. You/we need to look after ourselves if we don't we meltdown, burnout and like me hit crisis point. For people our age ( born way after 1991) this is usually the point where we try to find an assessment centre. 

Remeber that there are thousands and thousands of us. Autism is a naturally occurring variation of the human genome, there is not one correct cognition no more than there is one correct gender or sexual preference. The planet needs autistic people, it would fall apart without us, don't believe me? Go to the Silicon Valley and see for yourself. There is no shame in being autistic. Yes there are challenges but just remember lots and lots of Neurotypical suffer from anxiety and depression, it's not just us, we don't have a monopoly and feeling down and questioning who we are.

Welcome to the community #actuallyautistic 

Firstly congratulations on your identification. I know so many people who would love to be assessed and to find out for sure. Locally to me, the waiting time is 3 years for children, adults...well who knows? It is almost impossible unless you go private, which is what I did. It is one thing believing you are autistic, quite another being told you brain is not wired quite the same as everyone else's. Its both a shock and a relief.

I have met or spoken to very few people who were not pleased to be diagnosed. Remember you are still the same person, nothing has changed, you are still you. What is different is that you now have been given a gift, the gift to understand yourself and to make sense of the world around you. It's also an opportunity to be kind to yourself, not to put yourself through things that upset you or cause you difficulty, to forgive yourself for any interactions which, er...could have gone better! Of course, it is going to take time to adjust, its bound too. You have just been told something really big, it would be a little worrying if you did not consider this as a time for reflection. 

Try not to do what I did, and that's to analyse everything you do or say to death. I knew far too much about autism for my own good when I was diagnosed, I nearly drove myself mad with it. As for masking, well I won't bore you with my life story, but... masking nearly killed me. Trying to pretend I am someone who I am not, placing myself in positions and environments I knew I couldn't handle and continually trying to bluff my way through got me in the end. You/we need to look after ourselves if we don't we meltdown, burnout and like me hit crisis point. For people our age ( born way after 1991) this is usually the point where we try to find an assessment centre. 

Remeber that there are thousands and thousands of us. Autism is a naturally occurring variation of the human genome, there is not one correct cognition no more than there is one correct gender or sexual preference. The planet needs autistic people, it would fall apart without us, don't believe me? Go to the Silicon Valley and see for yourself. There is no shame in being autistic. Yes there are challenges but just remember lots and lots of Neurotypical suffer from anxiety and depression, it's not just us, we don't have a monopoly and feeling down and questioning who we are.

Welcome to the community #actuallyautistic