waiting to be assessed

Hi everyone

I am 57 and have been to see my GP about getting an autism assessment. I have known all my life that I dont fit in and that I struggle to do a lot of things that other people find easy and enjoyable. My father died 2 years ago and since his death I have been able to think more clearly about who I am

I have wanted to ask for an assessment for over 10 years but I have been scared to do this as didnt want to cause disruption to the people in my life and also I felt anxious about getting a diagnosis as feel it might be too late to address some of the problems that have caused me so many difficulties in my life

I have also recently ended an abusive relationship and to be honest, most of the relationships I have had have been abusive, I am really bad at realising when people are not good for me and I believe men when they say they love me even though their actions dont seem loving at all

I just want to try and understand myself. I have done lots of autism assessments online and they always come back as showing high level of autism but I just assumed they werent very accurate. I work full time and I am a successful contemporary artist but everything is a huge struggle and I have had many episodes of really bad anxiety and depression and live with a lot of pain. I am really bad at relationships and friendships and only really feel at ease when I am alone but I do feel lonely sometimes and wish I could be more like other people

Is it too late to get an assessment and possibly a diagnosis

Thanks for reading this