has a diagnosis helped you

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Absolutely, before my diagnosis i was depressed, lonely, suicidal, confused and my self esteem was low. I didn't understand why people would avoid me or say i was awkward. Teachers often didn't know how to deal with me but now that i have a diagnosis, i work through all my issues with my therapist, i feel less depressed because now i understand why people may not enjoy my company, and school has become less stressful. i now understand myself better.

i wasn't looking for a diagnoses either, i went to see my therapist because i was having violent outbursts. He noticed something was off (especially because he's been working with Asperger's children for 20 years) so he did some tests without letting me know and did a background check and thats how i was diagnosed.

I was diagnosed when I was five but my parents didn't tell me until two months ago. For me, it makes me feel worse. It does explain why I only had one friend who passed away and never any until I was sixteen except for the one that just used me.Reading about AS makes me feel nervous and confuse because what I've read so far always state that people with AS lacks empathy. Then I wonder if what I understood and felt about my friends was ever correct or real at all? I'm starting to think about what they think of me. Are they just using me or actually accept me? I can't shake this thought off my head even though I know that thinking like this will only causes problem. It is just me I guess since most people I see here improve after acknowledging their problems.

Ye i put off going to my GP because i was scared and thought he was gonna laugh at me but he didn't and about 2 months later i was diagnosed.

I think it has made me feel a bit better knowing i am not just crazy and there are other people just like me.

from reading the posts and thinking about it more, im going to leave the diagnosis, im not really negativly effected by my problems to the extent of needing professional help, and im also going to university so now may not be a good time.

Of course it's up to you, but I think it's a good thing to know whether you are or aren't on the spectrum. I was diagnosed as an adult (40s), and honestly I wish I had known when I was your age. I went through a lot of emotional frustration because I knew I was "different", but couldn't figure out why. So I kept trying to just fit in, and pretend that I wasn't different, and it never worked. Just made me more frustrated. Had I known that I had high functioning autism, I'd have been able to deal with things better, I think. Also, in cases where I had friends who were a little confused about me, but who still wanted to be friends, it would have made it easier for them too. When I would make a weird comment about something, it might have been easier for friends to understand why I wouldn't see what's weird about whatever it was I said. Too complicated to really explain, but I know I have a much easier time now in social situations. If I get all screwed up in a social situation and say or do things that other people think are weird, I can get a good laugh out of it by explaining about the autism.

And more importantly, I don't have to feel bad about myself for not understanding body language, and for the other things that were handicaps in the past.

Charles

You just keep on trying until you run out of cake.

I just retired from the USAF after 20 years of service, now that I know that I have Aspergers I am amazed at what I have been able to accomplish because of all of the difficulties I encountered while I was in, looking back I cannot believe I was successful as I was. However my transition to civilian life has made my time in the military look like a walk in the park, most importantly the military offered me security, routine, and a sense of belonging. Before I discovered the explanation for all of the difficulties I have encountered in life I always felt like a failure, I never quite measured up, a diagnosis has given my life context as well as a real sense of accomplishment. I don’t really think that having a diagnosis is going to provide any measurable benefit here in the good ol USofA, I don’t have to worry about an income for the rest of my life, or health insurance, due to being retired military. What a diagnosis has provided me is an assurance that while I may appear superficially to be successful, I am the only person who knows my whole story, and how fortunate I have been able to have accomplish what I have, in spite of my shortcomings.

A diagnosis allows me to have my cake and eat it too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_can't_ ... and_eat_it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47jIssZkuaE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI

I know a family with a boy who has been diagnosed with Aspergers, she told me that I give her hope for her sons future