I am very new to this so I have no idea what I'm really doing.
I'm a 22 year old female who got diagnosed with autism last May. Autism was not anything I had considered before, despite many online tests telling me otherwise I didn't bat an eyelid at them and assumed I cant be autistic. I have been in therapy since I was 16 (inconsecutively due to wait times) for anxiety and depression but I always felt different and that there was something else. Last year my current therapist told me she thinks I have autism and with my permission she would like me to get diagnosed, I was desperate for an answer so of course I said yes and in May I was told.
I feel like since being diagnosed my eyes have been opened and a lot of things makes so much sense but it has also been a very hard pill for me to swallow. I sometimes see autism as a burden and confuse myself into a fit of who I am. What part of me is me and what part is because Im autistic? Im trying to change my mindset to I am me because Im autistic but sometimes this doesnt help either. Sometimes I will cry for hours because I dont want to be autistic and I feel like no one arounds me understands as I dont know anyone else autistic. I have always struggled with friendships and currently have none which often makes me feel lonely and frustrated, and I blame autism. I blame autism for a lot of things and think if I was neurotypical I wouldnt feel this way, but I dont know how to stop blaming autism and stop seeing it as a burden on my life.
I am currently undergoing an apprenticeship and I find myself really struggling with the style of work as it is very much self-taught and I often find my brain cannot fathom learning on its own, again I dont know if this is because im autistic but I find myself blaming autism all over again. I know im smart enough to do the work but then I sit frustrated for hours staring at a blank screen because I dont know how to form a sentence and I dont know how to change that. I went through education, and came out with good grades but I struggled all the way through espeically when it came to writting down my knowledge. Is this common in autism?
I dont even know if this makes sense or if anyone will be able to relate to how I feel, I think because I have just been diagnosed this is all still new to me and its a big change that I dont know how to manage that. Sorry for the long post its very hard for me to communicate how I feel about being diagnosed and I want to clarify I never regret being diagnosed as it has helped answer a lot of everyday questions and made me a lot less hard on myself. It did feel like a weight off my shoulders being diagnosed I just now feel I dont know what to do with the information.
Thank you if you read to the end, I would love an advise or opinions.
