New member-introducing myself

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

When posting here, I always describe my own diagnosis (around 2.5 years ago) as having turned out to be the start of a new journey of learning and adapting. I'm still learning how to recognise, accept, and best prioritise supporting "the real me" in all kinds of different ways, but do feel like I've made good progress. 

The NAS has some great articles focused on "after diagnosis", including one covering how you might feel during the subsequent days / weeks / months. You might find them helpful:

NAS - How you might feel after a diagnosis - includes perspectives from other autistics

NAS - Other advice covering post-diagnosis including:

• Talking about and disclosing your autism 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. If you prefer, depending on where you are in the UK, you may instead be able to self refer for talking therapy on the NHS. I chose counselling, to help me process how my experiences and autism diagnosis have impacted me.

If you are planning to do this, or already doing it, 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

Finally, I'll just mention a couple of books that I and others have found helpful early on in our post-diagnosis journeys:

Self-Care for Autistic People: 100+ Ways to Recharge, De-Stress, and Unmask!

How to Be Autistic (free download currently available via this page)

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

When posting here, I always describe my own diagnosis (around 2.5 years ago) as having turned out to be the start of a new journey of learning and adapting. I'm still learning how to recognise, accept, and best prioritise supporting "the real me" in all kinds of different ways, but do feel like I've made good progress. 

The NAS has some great articles focused on "after diagnosis", including one covering how you might feel during the subsequent days / weeks / months. You might find them helpful:

NAS - How you might feel after a diagnosis - includes perspectives from other autistics

NAS - Other advice covering post-diagnosis including:

• Talking about and disclosing your autism 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. If you prefer, depending on where you are in the UK, you may instead be able to self refer for talking therapy on the NHS. I chose counselling, to help me process how my experiences and autism diagnosis have impacted me.

If you are planning to do this, or already doing it, 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

Finally, I'll just mention a couple of books that I and others have found helpful early on in our post-diagnosis journeys:

Self-Care for Autistic People: 100+ Ways to Recharge, De-Stress, and Unmask!

How to Be Autistic (free download currently available via this page)