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What confirmed your own autism suspicions?

Violetfred

Hello, I am very new to all this, so please forgive any faux-pa's I make regarding post-etiquette. 

I am awaiting autism  diagnosis on the NHS. I have read up extensively on the classic signs, but I am curious what specifically confirmed it for you.¹ I have made many analogies to people over the years, as I have struggled to find a cause for what I believe is behind my decades-long battle with anxiety and depression. I am 52 years old

It is like you are walking around in a big spacesuit. You can perform basic tasks but are unable to interact with people on an intimate level. They see you, but are unaware you are in this suit. It's frustrating, as you can see people living their lives, while you can only watch. 

This is the best description of how I feel and it is a desperately lonely place to be. I often contemplate the point of it all when It seems an impossible problem to conquer in an ever increasingly complicated world.

Apologies for the ramble, but it would be nice to know I'm not alone.

Parents

  • I thought, for most of my life, that autism was about silent children not interacting with anyone, rocking in the corner of a room, then the Dustin Hoffman character in 'Rain Man'. As I was nothing like either of these stereotypes, it never entered my head that I might be autistic. Then my daughter was taking cognitive behaviour therapy for anxiety and her therapist suggested that she might be autistic, and, from how my daughter had described me, that I might be as well. This triggered a feverish period of me researching  adult autism, and taking any relevant test I could find. I became absolutely convinced that autism was the best fit for how I am. The most intense discovery was finding that other people cut out every label in clothing, as I had done from the age I could begin to wield a pair of scissors. I had found 'my people'. Following this realisation I sought and received a diagnosis of ASD. My life fully made sense to me for the first time.

    My family ethos was very stoical, you just got on with things as best you could. Not that my family were cold or uncaring, quite the opposite. As a result, when I had my autism assessment it was the first time I had consulted any clinician on anything other than physical ailments.

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  • I thought, for most of my life, that autism was about silent children not interacting with anyone, rocking in the corner of a room, then the Dustin Hoffman character in 'Rain Man'. As I was nothing like either of these stereotypes, it never entered my head that I might be autistic. Then my daughter was taking cognitive behaviour therapy for anxiety and her therapist suggested that she might be autistic, and, from how my daughter had described me, that I might be as well. This triggered a feverish period of me researching  adult autism, and taking any relevant test I could find. I became absolutely convinced that autism was the best fit for how I am. The most intense discovery was finding that other people cut out every label in clothing, as I had done from the age I could begin to wield a pair of scissors. I had found 'my people'. Following this realisation I sought and received a diagnosis of ASD. My life fully made sense to me for the first time.

    My family ethos was very stoical, you just got on with things as best you could. Not that my family were cold or uncaring, quite the opposite. As a result, when I had my autism assessment it was the first time I had consulted any clinician on anything other than physical ailments.

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