Was it better to be unaware of your own autism?

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No, I wish I had known as soon as I left school in 1994. If I had known at school and others found out, that would have been a nightmare. As it was, I got a job and lived a pretty isolated life for the next ten years before I suffered burnout. I was diagnosed with HFA in 2005 when I was 27. I had mixed feelings about it. I ended up with a severe bout of depression afterwards and some of it was due to me thinking that I could never be fixed and be like everyone else.

There's a lot career-wise that I've not been able to do because of my being autistic and that gets to me.

It's best to keep awarenes of the Autism Spectrum in the background - yet not too far into the background!

I do wonder if not knowing was a good thing in some ways, because it forced me to learn a lot of compensatory strategies to be able to fit into society. These have served me well. I was also less aware and hence less self-conscious about my AS traits, which was nice in an "ignorance is bliss" kind of way.

Now I'm getting a lot of burnout due to no longer having the energy to maintain those compensatory strategies, and basically being expected to cope with things because "I always have". So right now it's much better that I am aware, as I need to start treating myself a bit more kindly and learn to accept my limitations.

So in my case, it was good to be unaware, up until the point when it wasn't. If that makes sense.

I think my life would have went less stressful and traumatic if I was diagnosed with autism as a young adult. I mean I was aware I was different, but never really understood the cause, despite having some knowledge about the human mind, brain, etc. I blamed myself for not being able to be normal etc. Even diagnosis in my mid thirties helped me deal with my issues a little better. Though it was too late. Better you get your diagnosis too early than when it's too late.

I think it's always better to know. I was the one who had desire to fit in and never knew why it wasn't working.

I recently started a new job and it's going better than I expected. I don't tell people I'm autistic but I guess management told them. As I'm a blogger I can't request to keep things private at work because everyone can Google me anyway. I think it works this way best; telling people that you're autistic somehow never works.

I can honestly say I had more optimism before realizing my brain chemistry. The limitations that come from me knowing i have autism have, in a strange way, brought some relief. While others may continue to lie to be about what I might be capable of if only I did *fill in the blank with whatever is suggested at the moment*, I know the truth, and I understand to a certain degree what can, or cannot, be remedied or corrected.

Never. Being armed with more information about yourself is always helpful.

Having a diagnosis doesn't change anything about you other than you know more, and knowing more enables you to deal with it better.

I wish I had known when I was younger, I wish my family had known. Then changes could have been made. I wouldn't have gone through life thinking I was stupid or lazy or any number of other negative things. Granted when I was young there weren't many, if any, resources for people with Autism. But knowing that there wasn't "something wrong with me" could have helped.

As it stands now, I think back and regret how some things went and how it may have been different if I had known. It angers me, it depresses and frustrates me.

I believe it is important that we pay attention to the mental well-being of children and do what we can to help them. As a society we don't come close to even doing the minimum.

I was completely happy to be diagnosed and it was a huge relief to find out and discover that I had autism (or, then, Asperger's Syndrome). I suddenly had answers as to why I was different, why I couldn't relate to people in the same way, why I was being so mistreated all of the time at work, why I processed details or information the way I did. However, I don't like telling everyone I have autism, since the general public just isn't aware enough to know how to handle it and respond in a kind way to people with neurological differences.

I believe I benefited from not knowing I had a very early autism diagnosis. I did know that I talked very, very late, and that I had problems relating to people.

I knew I was "different," and that I was "brain-injured." I used to think I had an operation that got rid of my "brain injury."

I benefited by being treated, not like a disabled person, but like a "normal" person.