Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi. I am waiting to be assessed for high functioning autism after being told by my GP and 2 mental health professionals that I likely have it. I am in my late 30s and am not I guess your “typical” possible autistic.. I have been in my job 20 years and married for almost 20 years.. without going into it all, I do identify with a lot of the traits that have been presented to me but I am struggling to accept this possible diagnosis because I don’t want to get mis-diagnosed and I don’t want to be a fraud or like seem to minimise diagnosed autistic people’s struggles.. does that make sense?
I’ve had severe mental health issues since my early teens and so much of this is making sense and making me feel like maybe I’m not crazy or some alien or something.. but then like I say there are other parts which are a definite “no, that’s not me at all”. I know there’s a huge spectrum so it’s likely that I’ll identify with some parts and not others, I guess I’m just struggling to come to terms with it all.
Has anyone else had a diagnosis /possible diagnosis later in life and struggled with it? How did you get past the worries and just focus on yourself and figuring things out?
Hi and welcome. I didn't have a clue I was autistic until I was in my fifties. I'm also not your "typical" autistic person, but autism is still widely misunderstood and we are all different.
I don't have a "formal" diagnosis - the doctor I was seeing at the time thought I was autistic, but advised me that there was no point getting one as I wouldn't get any support because I was able to work. I decided that I didn't need someone to give me a label - I recognised who I was as soon as I joined this forum. But some people get comfort from diagnosis - it's a very personal thing. Everyone is accepted here.
Just keep reading our posts and asking questions. You will get there.