Hi there community
sat here feeling so mixed up about positive diagnosis last week. Hope I can begin some self compassion. How did others process their diagnoses ? Thank you 
Hi there community
sat here feeling so mixed up about positive diagnosis last week. Hope I can begin some self compassion. How did others process their diagnoses ? Thank you
Hi woodpecker - congratulations on your diagnosis and welcome to the community! 
Following a diagnosis, it can be common for us to experience a lot of emotional dysregulation, so please don't worry if you experience this - it's normal! Besides perhaps feeling some relief about now having an explanation for our past difficulties, this can also include working through a phase where we experience confusion, uncertainty, so-called "imposter syndrome", and/or (backward-focused) anger, frustration, grieving, and more.
As for many others here, my own diagnosis turned out to be much more of the start of a new journey, rather than a conclusion full of instant solutions for my difficulties.
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 - includes perspectives from other autistics
NAS - Other advice covering post-diagnosis including:
Therapy (or counselling, which I preferred) 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.
Before arranging 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 woodpecker - congratulations on your diagnosis and welcome to the community!
Following a diagnosis, it can be common for us to experience a lot of emotional dysregulation, so please don't worry if you experience this - it's normal! Besides perhaps feeling some relief about now having an explanation for our past difficulties, this can also include working through a phase where we experience confusion, uncertainty, so-called "imposter syndrome", and/or (backward-focused) anger, frustration, grieving, and more.
As for many others here, my own diagnosis turned out to be much more of the start of a new journey, rather than a conclusion full of instant solutions for my difficulties.
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 - includes perspectives from other autistics
NAS - Other advice covering post-diagnosis including:
Therapy (or counselling, which I preferred) 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.
Before arranging 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)
