Did you receive a very late autism diagnosis/realisation?

I thought a thread just to discuss this subject might be quite pertinent as quite a few of us on the forum are very late diagnosed/realised.

I was diagnosed at 60.

I read this article today in the BBC news:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy87542l14ro

How has your diagnosis/realisation affected you?

Parents
  • How has your diagnosis/realisation affected you?

    For me, I think it's helped to explain things I have struggled with in my life. In certain situations I am now not afraid to speak out if I know I might struggle with something, or find something downright impossible, and to say why.

    I remember that I did briefly go through a phase of feeling overwhelmed... until I realised that nothing had actually changed and I was still the same person that I'd always been.

    One thing that I find impossible not to wonder is whether my life would have turned out any better if more had been known about autism when I was a child, and whether I would have been any happier.

    Sometimes I feel slightly resentful that I was considered to be shy and a bit of a loner, and was left to fall through the cracks. However, I also think I've done well to make it to middle-age without having had relevant support in place as a child.

Reply
  • How has your diagnosis/realisation affected you?

    For me, I think it's helped to explain things I have struggled with in my life. In certain situations I am now not afraid to speak out if I know I might struggle with something, or find something downright impossible, and to say why.

    I remember that I did briefly go through a phase of feeling overwhelmed... until I realised that nothing had actually changed and I was still the same person that I'd always been.

    One thing that I find impossible not to wonder is whether my life would have turned out any better if more had been known about autism when I was a child, and whether I would have been any happier.

    Sometimes I feel slightly resentful that I was considered to be shy and a bit of a loner, and was left to fall through the cracks. However, I also think I've done well to make it to middle-age without having had relevant support in place as a child.

Children