Recently Diagnosed

Hi. I am a recently diagnosed 37 year old female. I’m a bit confused as to how I am expected to feel. My son is also autistic and everyone has been on board with helping him and supporting him however they can. But since people found out I was being assessed and since diagnosed, they seem to think I should feel different. Like a diagnosis will make me feel better about myself. Which wasn’t the purpose. I have spent years trying to figure out why I am different and now I know why. But I am getting a lot of ‘So do you feel better now?’. Was my diagnosis supposed to give me some sort of closure or elated feeling?

Just feeling a bit lost as to how my diagnosis was supposed to make me feel. I mean, I struggle with feelings and emotions anyway, but people are acting like it’s some life changing affirmation, when I have actually been living an autistic life for 37 years. They just didn’t know/accept it until my diagnosis.

Parents
  • Hi Emz. I'm newly diagnosed too and I have been dealing with similar feelings. Frustration because it's taken 30 years to get a diagnosis, worry because I don't know what the next steps are and I very much feel like I have stigmatised myself just by being diagnosed, if I am being honest.

    I reached out to a friend who has been supporting me during through the assessments and I finally got my diagnosis and shared it with him. He asked how I felt and I said that I was unsure. He responded in a way that shocked me; he said "well, don't worry... isn't everyone a little bit autistic anyway?!". I understand that he was trying to keep things light in the moment but it also makes me feel like a formal diagnosis means very little to the people around me.

    I am hoping that being around people like the people on this site and talking honestly about these feelings will help!

Reply
  • Hi Emz. I'm newly diagnosed too and I have been dealing with similar feelings. Frustration because it's taken 30 years to get a diagnosis, worry because I don't know what the next steps are and I very much feel like I have stigmatised myself just by being diagnosed, if I am being honest.

    I reached out to a friend who has been supporting me during through the assessments and I finally got my diagnosis and shared it with him. He asked how I felt and I said that I was unsure. He responded in a way that shocked me; he said "well, don't worry... isn't everyone a little bit autistic anyway?!". I understand that he was trying to keep things light in the moment but it also makes me feel like a formal diagnosis means very little to the people around me.

    I am hoping that being around people like the people on this site and talking honestly about these feelings will help!

Children
No Data