How do you view your Diagnosis?

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I am also self-diagnosed with AS right now.
Whenever I can get insurance, I will see psychiatrists, and no doubt get an AS label, in addition to the Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Phobia labels that I already have.

I only found out about AS 7 months ago. And like millie said, at first I was really glad about finding out; it was such a relief to finally KNOW, and everything seemed to make sense. But some months later, I realized just how far this understanding has gotten me.... not very. Sure, I can see more about how my brain works, and how I interact with the world. But if anything, it seems like lately, this knowledge is only magnifying these problems. As in: I get freaked out in large stores; the lights and sounds and environment send me into sensory-overload. Well, now that I understand AS, and the high incidence of sensory issues, I am perfectly conscious of how easily I get overwhelmed by sensory input. It doesn't change anything. I can only accommodate myself so far with sunglasses and headphones. I still end up leaving the store feeling like I've been in a car crash, and now I'm potently aware of why that is.

I am slowly making structural changes to my life that will help me move forward with my AS diagnosis. I am preparing to move out of my current living situation, and into a more solitary one that will be much better for me. I am finding ways to deal with sensory issues. And my attempts to forge ahead with a career are aided by the knowledge of my own realistic cognitive and social limitations.

I view my diagnosis as an appropriately-focused set of glasses. It doesn't change what I see... It only makes what I see become clear.

It's kind of disturbing how others see this much more clearly than we do. I have a tendency to think that all of my "ASness" was in the past, pre-adolescence. But then my wife just yesterday told me that she often has to explain something to me in incredible detail so that I don't misconstrue what it is she wants me to do. I apparently still have a very hard time seeing the whole picture and not just parts of the whole.

Knowing about autism was cool.

Finally knowing the name didn't really make reality any more scary and abnormal than it already was and had been before. It was a relief to know that there was a name and treatment available.

Realising I wouldn't get around an ADHD diagnosis (not so bad) and medication (the problem) was downright horrifying at first (isn't at all any longer). I thought that attention/concentration deficit+over-activity+impulsivity would be manageable, but n all the years of working on these I didn't overcome it (of course).

I never like it, when things don't work out as expected.

My diagnosis was one of the biggest reliefs of my life. I finally realised what was 'wrong' with me all these years....NOTHING! Now that I know why I am how I am, and that there are plenty of others who are the same, I can go about my life as I want, and more easily find like-minded people if the need strikes.

This is something I need to learn myself. I hope someday I can view myself with the same self-assurance as you view yourself. It's the truth. Thank you for saying it, I feel better now

I've never been diagnosed. The idea the entire time I was growing up was to beat, humiliate, scream at, punish, kick, throw items at and laugh at (this from the parents, mind you) the child into "acting" "normal" instead of being an "embarassing freak" who "REFUSES to make friends," etc. (Oh, sure, refuse. ANYONE would willingly choose such a life as a youngster...)

"Acting" being the operative word, and woe to idiots like me who took a long time and repeated lessons to learn...and kept thinking "I said this last time...it should be right in this new situation" and being wrong...because being wrong could be pretty painful, literally.

And to always feel like a freak...because "You don't even have anything wrong with you! You don't even have an excuse!" (No, not in the 1970s. No excuse...)

I'd have preferred the DX. Trust me. I'd prefer it now. But I daren't go seek one. The pain of being screamed and jabbed and kicked and having one's head beaten into a wall to "knock some normalcy" into you for not making enough artificial friends in a year has lasted me a lifetime, well into adulthood, so that now, talking to a doctor about it--or anyone except an instance like here, 100% anonymously--is inconceivable.

Yep. Would rather have had the DX.

I'm not minimizing anyone else's feelings if he or she feels badly about his or her DX. I think it can be hard either way, depending upon how much support you get, or if you get any...etc.