It's Official

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I got the diagnosis today. Doctor said moderate to severe Aspergers. He said that if another doctor had said I was HFA he wouldn't necessarily disagree. He also said that when it all gets folded down into one diagnosis, it won't matter anyway. He said it was all being folded down into PDD.

Also, my special interest is musical theatre and he likes that too, so after the diagnosis was given he asked me what I liked about musical theatre, which was nice.

So it's official. It doesn't change much for me, I already get accommodations at school, but maybe I will be able to stop beating myself up for feeling like a completely separate species.

That's great! Sounds like you got a doctor who knew what he was talking about. That he knows the current events relating to ASDs, and that he knew about special interests and asked you about yours, are pretty encouraging signs.

Accommodations aren't the only reason you might get a diagnosis. Like you say: Self-knowledge is important. With that insight, you'll be able to learn more about yourself and the world around you. I remember when I first got my diagnosis; I did so much research. That was when I started finally getting a handle on my depression, because I was able to understand where all that stress was coming from and why my brain kept going AWOL on me. Self-knowledge is a good thing.

Thanks.

I think this will help me get a handle on my own anger at myself for "not measuring up". The doctor even said, "It's not a disability, it's just a different way of thinking." But he did recommend in the report that I get accommodations at school. Which I'm already getting anyway.

But I'm not stupid, I'm not unlikeable, and I'm not broken. I'm just autistic.

I also share a special interest with my psychologist and it is nice.
Sometimes I can talk a lot about it and she likes my view on it, that's what she says, because she says that people with autism have a way of "out of the box"-thinking and she likes it.
Good that you got dx'ed and have a good doctor!