Why did nobody notice?

I have similar feelings. I am 24 years old and was diagnosed age 21. My primary school, and even nursery, noticed I had problems but very little was done about them. Age 10 I was assessed by an Ed Psych, who advised the school to get me a Statement, but nothing happened - my parents actually believed I was statemented until we found out recently that this was not the case, when I went to Connexions and they could not locate any statement!. My parents thought I had AS (my Dad is a teacher and had found out about it in 1998 during a training day), but expected the school to sort things out. I received some support in lessons, but it only covered academic areas, not my social and emotional needs. Like you, I also have mental health problems (OCD and severe anxiety and tension with hardly any respite), but school did nothing, despite the Ed Psych report highlighting my obsessive hand washing and aversion to dirt. It is only recently that I have begun to get support and made some improvements - but there is a long way to go; the damage was done during my undiagnosed years. Of course we cannot change the past, but it is only human to have regrets and to feel angry. I find it helps to raise awareness of autism so that others don't need to go through the pain. I think that things are improving, it is just a shame that nothing was done in our childhoods.

I have similar feelings. I am 24 years old and was diagnosed age 21. My primary school, and even nursery, noticed I had problems but very little was done about them. Age 10 I was assessed by an Ed Psych, who advised the school to get me a Statement, but nothing happened - my parents actually believed I was statemented until we found out recently that this was not the case, when I went to Connexions and they could not locate any statement!. My parents thought I had AS (my Dad is a teacher and had found out about it in 1998 during a training day), but expected the school to sort things out. I received some support in lessons, but it only covered academic areas, not my social and emotional needs. Like you, I also have mental health problems (OCD and severe anxiety and tension with hardly any respite), but school did nothing, despite the Ed Psych report highlighting my obsessive hand washing and aversion to dirt. It is only recently that I have begun to get support and made some improvements - but there is a long way to go; the damage was done during my undiagnosed years. Of course we cannot change the past, but it is only human to have regrets and to feel angry. I find it helps to raise awareness of autism so that others don't need to go through the pain. I think that things are improving, it is just a shame that nothing was done in our childhoods.