Recently been diagnosed with autism

Hi Doug, welcome! I think the main gift of diagnosis (or discovery, as we should maybe think of it instead, though I do use the other word habitually a lot) is exactly hat you described: suddenly fitting the jigsaw together and adjusting perspective from 'I'm struggling' to 'I'm coping well considering'. Support is a trick concept - I'm not sure beyond moral support (which you'll find here in spades) there's much for those of us who are more invisibly autistic - no massive outward 'tells' at first glance, maybe working etc. Life will remain challenging and exhausting as society is shaped for non-autistic people for the forseeable future. And mitigating that requires giving yourself recuperation and recovery time more than an NT person would need, without any attendant guilt. As 'rest' is not a dirty word, nor is 'solitude'. 

I think knowing for sure empowers us to do what we need for us, mask just a little less (though reflexive survival habits will of course persist of necessity to some degree), and be unapologetically authentic without fixating so much on comparison perhaps. 

I think being in your 20s, you are in the most challenging decade for what you are 'expected' to be versus what you need. Middle age better aligns with our comfort zone, as by then our peers have somewhat met us half way. Though ny then the energy reservoir to cope even with more modest social engagement has ebbed significantly. So, you're at the first half of a trade-off see-saw in that regard, the tipping point some way off. But knowing early is good. I wish I had!

Hi Doug, welcome! I think the main gift of diagnosis (or discovery, as we should maybe think of it instead, though I do use the other word habitually a lot) is exactly hat you described: suddenly fitting the jigsaw together and adjusting perspective from 'I'm struggling' to 'I'm coping well considering'. Support is a trick concept - I'm not sure beyond moral support (which you'll find here in spades) there's much for those of us who are more invisibly autistic - no massive outward 'tells' at first glance, maybe working etc. Life will remain challenging and exhausting as society is shaped for non-autistic people for the forseeable future. And mitigating that requires giving yourself recuperation and recovery time more than an NT person would need, without any attendant guilt. As 'rest' is not a dirty word, nor is 'solitude'. 

I think knowing for sure empowers us to do what we need for us, mask just a little less (though reflexive survival habits will of course persist of necessity to some degree), and be unapologetically authentic without fixating so much on comparison perhaps. 

I think being in your 20s, you are in the most challenging decade for what you are 'expected' to be versus what you need. Middle age better aligns with our comfort zone, as by then our peers have somewhat met us half way. Though ny then the energy reservoir to cope even with more modest social engagement has ebbed significantly. So, you're at the first half of a trade-off see-saw in that regard, the tipping point some way off. But knowing early is good. I wish I had!