? for those diagnosed in adulthood

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Responding to another post made me think more about this. . .Did any of you realize you weren't normal? I mean, did you figure out the Asperger's on your own, or did someone else clue you in?

I always knew something wasn't right, but I kept telling myself, "well, really, what *is* normal? there is no such thing, everyone is different." But I still kept thinking something wasn't right. I couple years ago I thought maybe I had bipolar II. Before that I suspected maybe I was schizoid. In the last few years I decided my lack of interpersonal skills were because of my INTJ personality type.

It wasn't until the same person pointed out, for, at least, the second time, that I might want to consider Asperger's. . .

(actually, now that I think about it. . .my sister might have also suggested that about 8 years ago when we were working together. . .she was a psych major too. . .I think we decided that I couldn't have it because I did have a couple of friends. . .turns out though, that apparently I can only keep a friend for about two years before one of us gets tired of the other--wow, yeah, i totally forgot that we sort of looked into that back then. . .)

Haha, uh, none of the above... I figured out I was an aspie when I got the dx.

I was like you, I knew I was not normal, and hopped around different explanations. I thought it was dyslexia, or add, or other LDs, but had the chance to be diagnosed, and took it to put my mind at ease.

During my search for an explanation, I did hear about Asperger's Syndrome on the radio when I was in the car with my mom. I had looked it up and then told her that I think I had autism/AS, to which she replied "there is no way you can have it. People with autism don't speak." and that was the end of the discussion. I figured that my mom would have noticed if I had it in childhood, so she must be right, and I shut the possibility out of my mind...

One of my close friends suggested that I might possibly be an aspie. He is also an aspie.

After experiencing a bout of depression, my psychologist suggested I see another psychologist who specialised in ASDs. I had no idea about autism before that.

I knew I was different, but it was a therapist I was seeing for PTSD that suggested I might be on the autism spectrum. I also read some information about Asperger's and thought that a lot of it was true about me. There was a speech therapist who said when I was in high school around 1993 that "if there were such a thing as a little bit autistic," that would be me. Even then, it would be another 11 years before I finally got the correct diagnosis, when I was 28. Until adulthood, only those who were low functioning got diagnosed with autism, and most of those people were males.

My parents wanted to know why I was getting aggressive all the time when certain situations arised which I didnt understand or found confusing and couldnt process. They took me to our family doctor to see why I have been so aggressive, she refered me to the behavioural therapy unit at RBH where I went through different tests and I was diagnosed with AS I was diagnosed at 31. Even though I had abit of help from the hospital on how to understand certain things, its only been in the last five months that I have finally got the help and support that I have needed for such a long time, oddly enough from where I am working in a disability workshop the effort they all have gone through to look after me and make sure I get the help and counciling ( they have a Phycologist that looks after people with Aspergers syndrome at work) to understand and be able to work with everyone without getting upset.

In a way it was a combination of all those things. I knew I was different from the age of 5. It wasn't that lots of people pointed at me and said 'autism', it was often just people commenting on my characteristics. Then I met up with an online friend of mine who worked as a teacher for adults and had taught adults with Aspergers and he said 'I think you might have it'. Then a lot of things happened very quickly and I didn't have time to look into it. Eventually I began to research and everything I read was like reading something written specifically about me. When I was as sure as I could be I went to speak to my Mum about it. She had come to the same conclusion some time before and had been reading all the same books as me and a few more. She had first suspected autism when I was 8. As we read about Aspergers in adults we just looked at each other and said 'That's Dad', which was when we realised that both he and I are on the spectrum somewhere. I haven't had a diagnosis yet, but Aspergers (or possibly PDD-NOS) is the only thing to explain me. Every day confirms to me that I am on the spectrum.

I figured it out on my own.

Apparently people did suggest it, but they either told someone else (as I learned later, in one case over thirty years later), or they hinted at it in far too subtle a fashion and I missed the hint. Many other people figured it out and told me "Yes, I thought you were" when I told them.

One person figured it out and helped me process a bit while trying to figure it out, although they didn't say they knew until I said I was pretty sure of it (not someone who reads this forum, to my knowledge).

It has been suggested a few times and I could never see it in myself at all. Yet, I could see it in someone else.

I figured it out myself. I always knew I'm different and there's something odd with me, but autism/ASD awareness was nowhere when I was a kid and a young adult. Not to mention the part of world I'm living in is behind in so many aspects.

Other people figured it out before I figured it out myself. Then, other people helped me figure out some moar of it, and I figured out moar of it by myself too.

dp