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After diagnosis - stage 1 worries

Apollo

Hello

i have just been diagnosed with high functioning ASD. I'm a female in my early thirties.  

The diagnosis was initially a massive relief to me, but I am paranoid that if I have to tell anyone, they will think I am lying.

Nobody would think (apart from me and my mum) or has suggested that I might have Aspergers. However lots of people think I'm a bit odd. I told the people I live with and they are older (one works in mental health), and they quizzed me quite a bit and said 'yes, but lots of people feel like that'. And 'but you understand irony...?'  

I was very anxious in the interview/assessment, and am now worried that maybe I was 'putting it on'. Maybe the assessment team got it wrong because I presented myselF differently than I do with other people. I was very honest in my answering of questions. But I was anxious and they ask questions that civilians don't ask. I'm worried maybe I'm a fraud.

Did anybody else have these feelings?

Thank you  

Parents

  • I have had these same worries myself, and still do from time to time. I was diagnosed age 21 and the only person other than my parents who floated the idea of Asperger's was my University Counsellor. Women with Asperger's often fall under the radar, particularly if they are good at covering up (masking) their difficulties. Diagnosticians are usually aware of this, and they ask probing questions to find out what is really going on. Was your mum at the assessment?

    Nothing else would explain my  experiences growing up other than Asperger's, but there is a widely held stereotype of what Asperger's should be like. This stereotype can lead to self-doubts because we tend to internalise societal perceptions. You know yourself and what you have been through (and continue to experience beneath any masking), and hopefully this alone will help to nullify some of the doubts.

    Sometimes diagtnosticians are happy to have a post diagnostic chat. Have you considered this?

    People who are not educated in autism may exhibit disbelief if you tell them, but this is your chance to educate them and tell them what autism is really like. If they still refuse to listen, that is their loss.

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  • I have had these same worries myself, and still do from time to time. I was diagnosed age 21 and the only person other than my parents who floated the idea of Asperger's was my University Counsellor. Women with Asperger's often fall under the radar, particularly if they are good at covering up (masking) their difficulties. Diagnosticians are usually aware of this, and they ask probing questions to find out what is really going on. Was your mum at the assessment?

    Nothing else would explain my  experiences growing up other than Asperger's, but there is a widely held stereotype of what Asperger's should be like. This stereotype can lead to self-doubts because we tend to internalise societal perceptions. You know yourself and what you have been through (and continue to experience beneath any masking), and hopefully this alone will help to nullify some of the doubts.

    Sometimes diagtnosticians are happy to have a post diagnostic chat. Have you considered this?

    People who are not educated in autism may exhibit disbelief if you tell them, but this is your chance to educate them and tell them what autism is really like. If they still refuse to listen, that is their loss.

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