Diagnosis Confirmed

We are certainly more aware now, even though I believe that we will continue to learn more and more over the next few decades. I certainly feel that there are many more females in the population the have and are, being missed. That nearly happened to me, as my coping skills have been so refined over 56 years with no support. As a child, my parents didn't have a clue, even though I am certain that my mum was autistic - all the classic signs were there looking back. She didn't stand a chance because everyone thought she was just mentally ill. She probably would have been burnt at the stake as a witch if she had lived much earlier .... makes you think .

Best of luck to you as well.

Thank you for the welcome.

Thank you.  Yes it might take a while to sink in and I think my parents might have missed it because I was born in 77 and it wasn’t really a thing then, and my parents were told I was highly intelligent as well.

Yes!  Also sadness for the life I could have had.  But that’s the past, and I’m looking to the future now I know why I’ve always felt different.

Thank you Coffee Guy, I wish you well with lots of happy times ahead 

Hello and congratulations on your diagnosis. It’s interesting to be able to look back on confusing moments in life and offer an explanation or part of an explanation. I’ve found that I’m being a little more forgiving of myself since my diagnosis, but I understand that there is a journey ahead of me. Best of luck with everything.

Thank you Dawn , yes I have some living to do

Thank you, I feel more accepted on this forum than anywhere else on earth

Amen, Oscie. Amen! I was 56 too. Congratulations, to you also. This is the first day of the rest of your life. And we can make it a good one, now we know x

CONGRATULATIONS! Come on in sibling! You are special, unique, gloriously you and you deserve to live your best, most authentic autistic self. When it's tough, we are here :-)

Congratulations, many of us are diagnosed later in life because it was missed in school or parents weren't aware, different times.

Its a journey after diagnosis as well as before, and can take a while to sink in.

Hello there, I was diagnosed yesterday, I am 56 years old, so I relate to your post; though I felt sadness for not knowing, as my life may have been very different if I and others had known. Yet I also feel fortunate enough to still have some years left to benefit from the diagnosis too. I have decided to start a new chapter ..... drawing a line under what went before, because now it suddenly all makes sense. I hope that you find some peace and seize the day :) This online community has been so positive for me, it is a place I can come where everyone gets me and I don't feel alone. Thank you all and to NAS for facilitating it.

It certainly seems to be doing.  I've had what I now recognise as meltdowns and shutdowns at work, and the stuff that happened at school all makes some sort of sense now.

Congratulations on the diagnosis Hope it helps you make sense of your life and improve your self understanding.