To undiagnosed adults or those diagnosed in adulthood: How did you realize you might be autistic?

Hi,

I was just diagnosed on Monday. I will get my actual report on Friday. I'm a 31 year old female.

I didn't realise that autism could be a thing for me because I can live independently. Unfortunately, that was due to lack of exposure on what autism actually is and the range of the spectrum. 

I went to university as a mature student at 28, and I think I had 4 different people ask me when I discovered I was autistic. 3 of those where autistic students and one was a support tutor who had worked with adult females with aspergers before. This made me think that's what made me look into it. A lot of the things I've struggled with matched up, so I asked my GP for a referral for an assessment. At the end of the day, I had nothing to lose if they said no and everything to gain.

Keep in mine, I was also diagnosed with dyslexia while at the university. That rocked my world, so autism did not seem unrealistic. 

I wanted to get tested because autism in females (especially adults) is still quite difficult to understand. A diagnosis would help me and others who are going to be diagnosed. If I was not autistic, they know what not to look for. If I was, they might learn some 'new' autistic features to look into :) I also felt like I had impostor syndrome until the moment they told me I had autism officially.

I hope this helps. 

Hi,

I was just diagnosed on Monday. I will get my actual report on Friday. I'm a 31 year old female.

I didn't realise that autism could be a thing for me because I can live independently. Unfortunately, that was due to lack of exposure on what autism actually is and the range of the spectrum. 

I went to university as a mature student at 28, and I think I had 4 different people ask me when I discovered I was autistic. 3 of those where autistic students and one was a support tutor who had worked with adult females with aspergers before. This made me think that's what made me look into it. A lot of the things I've struggled with matched up, so I asked my GP for a referral for an assessment. At the end of the day, I had nothing to lose if they said no and everything to gain.

Keep in mine, I was also diagnosed with dyslexia while at the university. That rocked my world, so autism did not seem unrealistic. 

I wanted to get tested because autism in females (especially adults) is still quite difficult to understand. A diagnosis would help me and others who are going to be diagnosed. If I was not autistic, they know what not to look for. If I was, they might learn some 'new' autistic features to look into :) I also felt like I had impostor syndrome until the moment they told me I had autism officially.

I hope this helps.