Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
Diagnosed with autism on Monday this week at age 42. I am still trying to process this, I thought I would be relieved but mostly I'm just feeling overwhelmed at the moment. I haven't told anyone about the diagnosis yet, not even my husband. I'm feeling anxious about telling my family and not sure how I will cope with their reactions.
Just wondering how other people diagnosed as adults told their close family about their diagnosis? If it was me, I would want to be given all of the information in written form but not sure if this would be too much to start with. Any thoughts?
Hi, I was only diagnosed at the end of last year myself and it is a lot to take in. I just announced it to my husband when I got home from my assessment/diagnosis day, but I do also have a co-morbid ABI which means I don't hold back as much as others might when it comes to divulging important information. He then found and read my full diagnostic report when I left it on the kitchen work top two weeks later! I can understand that others might not be able to be quite as forthright about telling people as I was. Maybe wait until you have received your full diagnostic report and then tell your husband, that way you have written information to show him?
That's a good suggestion, although it may take another 4 weeks before I get the written report. I expect I will try and find an appropriate moment to mention it before then but then again having the report might give me some confidence in what I'm saying. Confused.
Hi I was diagnosed a couple of months ago at 58,like you I found it difficult to tell my family,my husband knew as he was part of my assesment,I am also bipolar so for him me being labelled with this made no difference,my parents looked confused when I was saying my childhood was difficult as they didn't know,then they felt guilty if it were true,I feel they are still not convinced,which makes me question myself,which I find very confusing even though it is a confirmed diagnosis,my 4 year old granddaughter has been diagnosed too,telling my daughter's was hard because I felt they thought I was somehow trying to take away from my granddaughter's diagnosis,it is through her diagnosis I began to see myself,and after my psychiatrist referral it was confirmed,nobody mentions it now at all,I feel almost a fraud because nobody is interested,and that I've struggled alone all my life,and finding out my diagnosis isn't going to change it,I'm sure as everything in family life is individual everybody's experience is going to be unique,but for me I wish I had kept it to myself because their reactions have added to my upset that I have unknowingly been struggling with this for a lifetime and nobody could see it.sorry this isn't more positive.