Telling teenage children about your late ASD diagnosis

Hi - congratulations on your diagnosis and welcome to the community!

You might find these articles - along with others from the NAS's diagnosis hub - helpful, including their further links to related resources:

NAS - Talking about and disclosing your autism diagnosis

NAS - Emotional support for family members after a diagnosis

Thanks Bunny

 It would be great if the Talking about/disclosing link had some info about how a parent could think about disclosing to their children. I couldn't find this specifically addressed, and do feel that telling your children raises different issues to telling others. 

You’re welcome!

I agree - if you like, you can make that suggestion to the NAS by scrolling to the bottom of that article, selecting “no” in response to the question ”was this page helpful?”, and then typing your comments in the box that then appears. They won’t respond directly, but all feedback is taken into account when pages are next updated.

You’re welcome!

I agree - if you like, you can make that suggestion to the NAS by scrolling to the bottom of that article, selecting “no” in response to the question ”was this page helpful?”, and then typing your comments in the box that then appears. They won’t respond directly, but all feedback is taken into account when pages are next updated.

You're most welcome! 

As a final suggestion: you might like to consider seeking emotional support from other parents who are, or who have been, in a similar situation via the NAS's parent-to-parent helpline - you can request a call here:

NAS - Parent to Parent Emotional Support Helpline

Amazing, thank you

You might be able to find some support groups for late-diagnosed women via the NAS's directory (search by postcode):

NAS - Autism Services Directory

There are also some Facebook groups that you could consider joining, such as:

Facebook - UK Autistic Women’s Support Group

• "This is a group for women who have been diagnosed or are waiting to be diagnosed, also includes self-diagnosed with autism/Aspergers. This group is for UK women. We are accepting of non binary and genderfluid autistics. We are trans inclusive."
• If they wish, group members can write their posts and comments anonymously, with only the group's admins being able to see their identity. 
• The group has around 10,000 members and is active on a daily basis.

Facebook - Autistic Women UK - Late Diagnosed (40+)

• "A safe supportive space for autistic females (cis, trans, female presenting non-binary), living in the UK ,who discovered that they were autistic later in life (40 years and over)."
• Around 2,000 members.

Facebook - Autism/ADHD late diagnosed women in UK (mid life plus)

• "Many women in particular have gone under the radar because their autism and ADHD has been missed. Group founders in their 60s and we particularly welcome women aged 50+. Come and share your experiences, special interests, advice, offer support etc in a safe place. Younger ND psychology or sociology undergraduates needing volunteers for projects also welcome! ..."
• Around 2,700 members.

You could also contact your local NAS branch to see whether they're aware of and/or run any groups that meet locally to you:

NAS - Branches

Are there also any support groups for late diagnosed women that you could point me towards please?

Great idea, I'll do that. The resources on the site are generally incredibly helpful so thank you