Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm not sure if this is appropriate to post and I am not asking for medical advice. I would just like to hear from adults who were diagnosed with ASD later in life. I am in my early 30s. I am not sure what I should do as I have been reading up a lot more on ASD lately and some of my behaviours and feelings do match some descriptions but some of these can also overlap with things like depression or anxiety disorders. For example some things like understanding how others feel come naturally to me, but I did have to teach myself how to socialise with people to seem "normal". There are more things as well that keep adding up, but won't elaborate in order to try and keep this as short as possible. I'm just a bit confused as to if I should seek a diagnosis or not as life has been a bit hard for me lately. I know that people on the internet can't tell me if I have ASD, I just feel a bit vulnerable at the moment and don't feel like I have anyone to talk to. How does one even get a diagnosis? Does it help?
Giant duck said:some of my behaviours and feelings do match some descriptions but some of these can also overlap with things like depression or anxiety disorders.
These are often linked to autistic traits but they also exist for plenty of other "conditions" so I would spend some time to confirm if you are looking in the right areas.
To start I would consider doing a free online test to see if you score highish in the spectrum. A good test is here:
https://www.thevividmind.org/blog/test/autism-test-online/
Bare in mind that this is a spectrum condition so while you may have a number of traits that are evident, you need to have them at a severe enough level to be labelled as autistic - it just means that you have to be affected seriously enough to get the lable to define you as disabled.
This spectrum is the neurodivergent spectrum and includes areas such as ADHD and bipolar, all of which have overlapping traits.
Rather than worry about labels and official diagnoses you may find it more helpful to look at the traits which are causing you issues and read here about others experiences and approaches to them. There is a wealth of information on the discussion boards that is easily searchable using the magnifying glass on the top right.
Actually getting a diagnosis is of limited use unless you plan to use it to get some benefit - typically to request something called Reasonable Adjustments in the workplace or to support a disability claim. Wait times are in terms of years now so you need to be patient or pay to go private.
In summary - do the test, confirm if you are on the spectrum then look for help with what is troubling you would be my recommendation.