Too little too late?

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Mum was told when I was little and first in preschool that I could have aspergers, but she did nothing because she didn't think anything was wrong with me, just that I was different. Those differences have been apparent all my life, leading to bullying etc.

Now I'm struggling with work and I want to quit and hide in my room forever but apparently I can't, and it's causing depression and self-confidence yo-yos.

Is it too late? Did my mother damage me permanently for the rest of my life?

I'm going to see doctors and counsellors etc but nothing seems to work.

Help?

Ask your counselors for referral to programs that help form coping skills for the workplace. Things like eye contact, learning to read faces, learning when someone is joking, letting snide comments slide off, not hyperfocusing as much, etc. If necessary, ask the doc what kind of meds are good to control anxiety, at least for the short term.

You can learn to deal with a lot of your "problems" or what they lead to. For instance, if you have trouble speaking to an authority figure, you can learn to cope enough to get through an interview.

Mostly though, you can realize that your mother was correct. There is nothing "wrong" with you because of AS. Everything you may perceive as a weakness, also has a corresponding strength. You don't like to socialize in groups maybe, but you can deal with solitude better than most. Perhaps, you are too blunt, and take things too literally. But you are also honest, and direct when giving your opinion. You might get wrapped up in something so much that you loose track of other things in your life. On the other hand, you can fully explore a topic or activity until you have basically mastered it. Look at your "problems", and learn what is the positive side.

Learning to accept who you are, and having confidence in yourself, will allow you to work on specific issues more easily and constructively, instead of just beating yourself up.

...I'm 48 , I was only DX'd a yearish back , long after my parents demise...basically , I've wondered the same for myself .

I was diagnosed only 2 years ago. When I was real little, I had so many tests done yet no one knew what exactly I had. My parents and me had never heard the word aspergers. I also got called speacial and different. I still try to look at that as a positive. As for work, I'm working but getting therapy. My therapist thinks I outta try Vocational Rehab for work placement. They help you find a job and classes with disability. I don't think it's a disability as much as it is being inflexible. So I'm going to try this program and see what I'm real good at and what I'm real bad at and see where I fit in. You're not alone on this. I wish they had gotten me diagnosed sooner.

I didnt find out until I was 22. I was glad though, not something I would have wanted to know as a child, by not knowing I wasnt able to use it as an excuse, and I wasnt picked on anymore because I had a label. Childhood was hard enough. It wasnt until I was an adult that I really wanted to know what made me so different.