Hi

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

There are a lot of other late-diagnosed people here (including me, for example), so it's a great place to share your thoughts, connect with others, and/or just to pick up tips and learn by reading others' posts.

In case you haven't yet seen them, the NAS has a great set of articles focused on "after diagnosis", including one covering how you might feel during the subsequent days / weeks / months. You might find them of interest and/or helpful:

NAS - How you might feel after a diagnosis

NAS - Other advice covering post-diagnosis including:

• Talking about and disclosing your autism diagnosis
• Emotional support for family members after a diagnosis
• Formal support following an autism diagnosis
• What can I do if formal support is not offered or is not enough

Therapy (or counselling) is often recommended after a diagnosis, as a follow up action for your GP to arrange. In anticipation of that, you might find it helpful to borrow or buy this book, which includes discussion of various types of therapy and counselling, together with advice on choosing the right therapist or counsellor - all from an autistic person's viewpoint. Several of us here have found it very helpful:

The Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy

• Hey Bunny. Many thanks for your words and signposting. Funnily I've just finished reading Steph Jones book and found it very useful. I'm a psychiatric nurse and therapist so could really relate a lot. My latest special interest is trying to understand what early warning signs of meltdowns look like for me, had one at work last week and totally didn't see it coming. My daughter is AuDHD and told me that's pretty common when recently diagnosed.

• Hey Bunny. Many thanks for your words and signposting. Funnily I've just finished reading Steph Jones book and found it very useful. I'm a psychiatric nurse and therapist so could really relate a lot. My latest special interest is trying to understand what early warning signs of meltdowns look like for me, had one at work last week and totally didn't see it coming. My daughter is AuDHD and told me that's pretty common when recently diagnosed.