why is being diagnosed Aspergers important for adult?

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Now I have a process and a thought pattern to follow to stop some of my anxiety.

What is the process / thought pattern you have? I have terrible anxiety, as well.

I try to memorize the feeling I get before I start going into a fit. Then realize no matter what, I am still responsible for my actions, HFA or not. The people around me will not understand. Do not act out, walk out.


Easier said than done. You'll still get the anxiety, but you do not have the consequences of going into a fit with people around you.

Well, there's my VA disability check.........

That's enough of a benefit for me.

Oh sure, no problem. I don't know all the benefits but I know that the Office of Vocational Rehab will give you free counseling and if you are unemployed they will give you financial aid in schooling or job training of your choice if you qualify. Their goal is to get people with developmental or intellectual disestablishes working. If your diagnosis qualifies you they will help you as long as it takes until you are working for a steady 90 days. Some people they have been working with for decades. They also provide all the diagnostic testing for free. That in and of itself is phenomenal.

Also with an ASD diagnosis you can be a Special Olympics athlete which is very important to me.

And you can qualify for disability checks. I have heard that they are only up to $700.00 a month but that can make a huge difference for someone like me.

Those are the benefits that I know of. I don't know if there are more.

My doctors are Dr.s There is no advantage for them to shoving pills down my throat and they have no problem with the fact that I refuse to take medications for bipolar or social anxiety, or PTSD.

I was diagnose in my 20's right after college. And the advantage was that it allowed me to finnally understand why I was always seen has "the weird one" why my family and friends would say certain things or think a certain way about me, it explained why high school was hell for me, why I had less friends than others, and why my views about everything, about the world, people and many other stuff was so different from the masses. It also helped my family understanding why I was the way I am.

There's self-understanding, I guess, but for me that's been it.

I don't want disability. I'm not criticizing anyone who gets it, but I am who I am and I think I'd rather live in a box and eat garbage or blow my head off, thanks. I don't think anyone else is obligated to feel the same way. It's just me.

It really hasn't helped much. Now I know WHY I am how I am...

...but I do not know how to fix it, and it does not give me permission to accept myself.

If anything, having the Dx denies me permission to accept myself. I am not "a person, just me, just how I am." My personality is, in large part, a disease.

A very hard concept to explain to people who are not on the spectrum or who are on the spectrum but react in a different way, become depressed because it's permanent etc.

Validation, for me. Finally knowing why I am the way I am and that I'm not just seeing things in myself that aren't there. I was just diagnosed TODAY! After 7 years of suspecting it.

Wow! That is awesome. Congratulations.

Welcome to the club... I guess
Now for the next few months you will be reading everything about it, reading testimonials and learning everything about it, and even questioning yourself, it happened to me when I found out.

It is important for me for two reasons:

1. So I can better understand myself, to know why my life turn out the way it did and why I do the things I do.

2. To get accommodations at my work place. At this time I'm forced to work in a very loud and bright office space (florescent lights everywhere). I suffer greatly from sensory overload because of it.

I guess it is somewhat important to me because it gives me more understanding of what the hell was always 'off' about me, also that diagnoses along with my others helped with getting on SSI which is my income source for now....I am hoping to figure something else out eventually because it sucks and I am always afraid of telling people that's my income....at least till I talk to them long enough to figure out how they view that and find out they aren't going to go all super bigot on you.

I'm attempting to get a diagnosis because the stress from school and trying to get my feet on the ground is enormous and we live in a cruel world where basic, simple courtesy, accommodations that should be open to everyone are simply denied.
Example:
My eyes are very sensitive to light, but wearing sunglasses inside buildings is unacceptable and I can face fines and disciplinary actions against me for simply wearing them. The only way to get common decency is to get a legal claim to wave over bureaucrats heads. It's a cold and psychopathic system and I need to survive it.

Congrats with finally finding out for sure, Lyrical!
Also, good to see you here again!

I experienced mixed reactions when I was diagnosed. Part of it was the "Aha! I can't believe I was actually RIGHT about this! I have my 'Alien ID' card now! This explains everything - I'm not bad or immature, just different," that others have mentioned. But it was also very difficult emotionally, and I became more withdrawn for months. I had always thought I was going to get better and be normal someday if I did all the right things and kept trying, and instead, I found out that the "exit" door was welded shut.

Getting a diagnosis as an adult was important to me because, whether that's REALLY what I have or not, it gives me a way of explaining and helping myself that I never had before. Also, it takes away a lot of the sense of shame and isolation, and gives me a little courage to go on; I'm like this because this is just what I'm like and I can learn to live around it, joyfully even, whereas I used to think that there was something unexplainably wrong with me and I was just a bad person who wasn't worth being friends with.

I'm glad you were able to resolve some life questions. Take care!