How long have you been diagnosed?

I was diagnosed in January 2019 when I was 31. For years growing up, I felt I was different and grew up with speech impediment and found it hard to socialise and had anxiety issues and myself nor my parents knew what why I was like I was. I was diagnosed with Dyspraxia when I was 12 and I had some mild OCD issues that I knew about.

In 2018 I was watching TV and saw a man interviewing two teenagers who were Autistic. Might have been Matt Baker on Countryfile or on The One Show, I don't remember, but and as soon as I saw that, it was a lightbulb moment for me. Much of what they said and how they acted, paralleled myself. It was then I decided I wanted to get tested.

The first time I trued to get a test, I was just told that even if I could get a test, there was not much that could be done to help adults Autism. That wasn't very helpful. A few months after that, I decided that I wasn't going to let that stop me and I tried again to get tested. I talked with my doctor, who said he noticed some Autistic traits in me and he referred me for an appointment for a diagnosis. I got tested and found out I had Autism.

It was after that, things made sense to me. I was given help for over a year until the Pandemic started by a woman who helps people with Autism understand their condition and it has really helped. I felt more confident than I used to and I felt I understood the way I was and it helped my family understand me more too, 

About 2 years after my diagnosis, I started to think I also have ADHD. Some of the traits I have seem to conflict with my Autistic traits such as sometimes having the ability to hyperfocus then other times not being able to focus at all and losing concentration and getting distracted easily. Also not being able to sleep at normal hours of the night and sometimes feeling I too much energy when I know I don't and that is just some of them. I have been trying to get a test for it for the past 2 years and I am still on a waiting list which is frustrating and the last I was told that it could take another 4 years before I can get a test!

I was diagnosed in January 2019 when I was 31. For years growing up, I felt I was different and grew up with speech impediment and found it hard to socialise and had anxiety issues and myself nor my parents knew what why I was like I was. I was diagnosed with Dyspraxia when I was 12 and I had some mild OCD issues that I knew about.

In 2018 I was watching TV and saw a man interviewing two teenagers who were Autistic. Might have been Matt Baker on Countryfile or on The One Show, I don't remember, but and as soon as I saw that, it was a lightbulb moment for me. Much of what they said and how they acted, paralleled myself. It was then I decided I wanted to get tested.

The first time I trued to get a test, I was just told that even if I could get a test, there was not much that could be done to help adults Autism. That wasn't very helpful. A few months after that, I decided that I wasn't going to let that stop me and I tried again to get tested. I talked with my doctor, who said he noticed some Autistic traits in me and he referred me for an appointment for a diagnosis. I got tested and found out I had Autism.

It was after that, things made sense to me. I was given help for over a year until the Pandemic started by a woman who helps people with Autism understand their condition and it has really helped. I felt more confident than I used to and I felt I understood the way I was and it helped my family understand me more too, 

About 2 years after my diagnosis, I started to think I also have ADHD. Some of the traits I have seem to conflict with my Autistic traits such as sometimes having the ability to hyperfocus then other times not being able to focus at all and losing concentration and getting distracted easily. Also not being able to sleep at normal hours of the night and sometimes feeling I too much energy when I know I don't and that is just some of them. I have been trying to get a test for it for the past 2 years and I am still on a waiting list which is frustrating and the last I was told that it could take another 4 years before I can get a test!