when did you know you have asperger?

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At age 32 (2010). My psychiatrist had been through all the meds with me and really didn't know what else to do with me when my wife straight-up asked if he thought I had AS. He was honest and said he was older and not well acquainted with ASDs, but he referred me to someone who was. If only they all could be as honest.


Oops! I didn't realize that this is the Adolescent Forum.

I found out when I was in Year 7 (age 11) although was diagnosed far before that (about when I was 3). My parents just didn't tell me, although I did get therapy, I didn't know it was therapy (except speech therapy) and just went along with life.

One of my friends got diagnosed at 15. Go ahead and get a diagnosis if you want. A diagnosis doesn't necessarily change anything, it can open doors to therapy and support which can be helpful, but you'll be the same person. I'd perhaps encourage a diagnosis, just for the sake of having the option to get any therapy you need, but it's up to you really.

My diagnosis was in September of 2016.

My family sort of suspected my whole life, but I was officially diagnosed when I was around 17 or 18 officially, after having been previously diagnosed with a sensory processing disorder and some other comorbid conditions. It was good in some ways, because it validated my experiences and now I can better get help and understanding from school, for example, but it also has been used to insult me and call me a "freak", and some people call me a liar about it, because I'm a girl and I do a pretty good "passing as a quirky neurotypical" routine. A lot of people were actually kind of mean about it, so be careful who you disclose it to. I didn't get a lot of accommodations either, but that's mostly my fault because I was diagnosed so late I don't even know what to ask for or how, and I'm terrified of confronting people about it. (So don't be me! Be an advocate for yourself!) But it has been good for me in that I understand myself better, and I can kind of be my own therapist, if you will, because now I know why I struggle so much, and I can find others who get it and get tips about how to get help online or in books, or even by discussing differences in perception with people.

I've always known there was something different about me. But I found out there was a serious problem when I didn't leave the house for 2 years.

^ leave me stuck in the house for more than four hours and i go batty.

you've piqued my curiosity, now. mind sharing?

how long ago was this?

I've always had severe social issues so I've never had a friend in my entire life. In the middle of seventh grade I finally completely and utterly broke down from what I now know we're continuous sensory overloads, and pretty much stopped going to school altogether. I still somehow passed and moved to an online school for eighth grade but I was too depressed to do any of the work. I failed the year and got put back into public school this year but have only gone about three times and have well exceeded my max absences. I'm currently getting put through a system for homebound people and they're going to give me a mental evaluation. So to answer your question it's currently happening. I'm even trying to "relearn" social skills which is a bit of a stretch since I've never really had them to begin with.

When I was diagnosed at age 3

It took me quite a while to come to the realization.
In reality, I guess I knew it the first time it was mentioned to me. At that point I was 20, and it was my first contact with the psychiatry. I was hospitalized for depression, and three different doctors pointed out that I was showing signs of autism.
I was let out a week later without follow-up and didn't think much of it. Deep down I knew that they were right. But I was in denial.

Two years later I fell onto the female autism criteria-list, and got pretty shocked because everything fit. Again, I really knew what was going on but denied it.

This year I started seeing a psychiatrist for my anxiety, and he went straight onto asking me AS-related questions.
I started accepting it more and more.

The big realization came just a couple of months ago, when I watched a youtube video with a girl on the spectrum, talking about special interests. I could relate to every single thing she said. I recognized myself in her in so many ways.
When it was just text, it was easy to deny, because all of those traits and symptoms could still be explained by something else. But when it was a real person, who I could relate more to than anyone else ever before, and all she said made perfect sense... I just couldn't deny it anymore.
That's when I got 100% sure.

And I got my official diagnosis just last week. Now 23 years old.