Just got my autism results

Your response is normal, I definitely felt the same way when I was diagnosed. And sometimes I still struggle with it 10 months on. There’s a term “imposter syndrome”, which best describes how you’re feeling right now, and is common especially in late diagnosed adults. In a nutshell, it’s where autistic individuals doubt their autism diagnosis, feeling like they are "faking" their symptoms or not "autistic enough" to be valid. This can stem from stereotypes about autism, comparing yourself to others on the spectrum, or feedback from people who question the diagnosis.

I get the feeling of being scared and feeling ungrateful. You’re absolutely not ungrateful, you’re looking to better understand yourself and are struggling with being told you’re autistic. That’s not being ungrateful. It is scary being diagnosed, you’ve been chucked in the deep end and now you have to figure it out for yourself. It will get easier and you will become more accepting to it, and you’ll learn ways to start to unmask and feel more comfortable in this world.

My advice is also to be around other autistic adults, whether on this community or local groups/clubs, to learn from other autistic people. I have recently been attending group sessions as part of my mental health treatment, and some of the other clients are autistic (about 4 others out of the 15 there), and I’ve learnt so much from them and they’ve help me validate that I’m autistic and my diagnosis was correct. 

Here is something that you might find helpful: https://embrace-autism.com/introducing-autistic-impostor-syndrome/

This video from YouTuber Orion Kelly explains it well too: https://youtu.be/QsYGhE4f06A?si=cdriO3Xg0jPF83Co 

Welcome to the community 

Thanks for sharing those links, I was aware of neither and am now into both, cheers

Thanks for sharing those links, I was aware of neither and am now into both, cheers

Here's another I've seen that's pretty good too https://reframingautism.org.au/service/welcome-pack/