How old were u when u knew?

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It looks like many people here are answering the question in the subject heading, with an assumption about knew what, rather than answering the question in the first post. Too many "always knew" type answers. Which doesn't fit with the question in the first post.

Understood that I was "odd" - 15 or 16, learned how it is called - 25. Not diagnosed.

I wanted to see how many people on WP reached an advanced age without knowing there was an inborn reason and that the capacity for voluntary change was limited.

I knew I was odd my whole life, I just never thought too much about it. It didn't occur to me that I might have AS until I was in college, and even then I didn't really strongly consider the possibility until I took an abnormal psych class and saw that the symptoms pretty much described me as a kid perfectly. So at 20 years old I told my mom I thought I might have AS and she looked at me weird for a second and said "...you mean you didn't know?". Turns out I had been diagnosed as a kid (I think it was around 9 or 10) and that was the reason I had been forced to have nearly a decade of therapy and social skills training. No one ever told me as a kid from what I can remember (there's a decent chance somebody did though and I just didn't care and quickly forgot about it), so the entire time I just thought I was having to go to social skills therapy because I was a painfully awkward youth who had serious peer rejection issues.

In a way, I'm glad I didn't understand that sooner. If I'd've understood that I'm neurologically different, I might not have had the same belief that I could change, as far as things I have changed, and that needed changing.

But, on the other hand, I wish I'd've understood when I was young, that, well, that there's not something wrong with me, basically. That the autistic part if me isn't ugly or unacceptable, just different and not so good at the social stuff.

I knew i was autistic at about 10 self diagnosed myself at 15 with aspergers then the next day was told i was diagnosed with aspergers

From about 5 I knew I was different but wasn't diagnosed with anything until I was 22 (one week from 23). For a bout a ytear before that I was questioning my difference and originally thought I had ADHD I do still think I have a bit of that as well.

49...I always knew I was different, but until I read the symptoms and started taking up space here, I thought I was the only one with these symptoms.

I knew I was different from very early on. I kept asking myself if something was wrong with me, whether I had some kind of a mental retardation or a mental illness or something. I wondered if other knew and just weren't telling me. I didn't understand that this difference was of a neurological nature until I was in my twenties and I finally found out about AS when I was 26.