How old were you when you were diagnosed?

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For those of you who have been formally diagnosed, how old were you when you were diagnosed? What was your education/occupational status at the time? Did you feel that the diagnosis was sudden, or did you have suspicions there was something different about you for a long time before diagnosis?

As for me, I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was in 8th grade (in the US school system; I'm not sure how that translates to other countries' systems) and approximately 14 or 15 years old. I was diagnosed by a neurologist, I believe on the school's recommendation. I definitely had a long-running feeling that there was something different with me, and my diagnosis confirmed it.

I was diagnosed in 6th grade at the age of 12 by an autism specialist psychiatrist. My shrink suspected it and before that my speech therapist suspected it too but none of them knew much about it so they were not qualified to diagnose so my mom wanted an expert to look it over. So she was given a recommendation for it.

I just thought then I could get rid of it and no wonder I was so stupid and thought AS had something to do with me struggling with learning. It didn't really tell me anything. I knew I was different but I didn't know I was that different and didn't want to be then so having that label meant I never will be normal and that I have something wrong with me. But I never thought about the label then so I would forget about it every time. I just felt I was the only one with it for a while.

I would've been in tertiary school when I was diagnosed if I hadn't dropped of high school. So, that's the option I chose.

I was diagnosed as an adult at age 38. I was working then in a relatively good job in my profession (I have a masters in economy), now I'm unemployed, due to economic crisis. I always had issues with (romantic) relationships (or lack thereof), still no success in that department. So, all-in-all, no progress due to diagnosis so far, but I keep holding to the track. I definitely have positive experiences too as a result of my dx. I'm not sure I could have gone so far with knowing the issues I face and my difference have a name.

Age 11, in school. But it wasn't formally revealed until I was well into middle school.

I was 22. I received a diagnosis from a free clinic because at that time I had no means because I was very deep into an isolation lifestyle. I always suspected that I am different.

I was 26. I took a psychological evaluation and that was my diagnosis.

I was dxed during my third year of uni, at 21

when I was 45. not too long ago.

I was dx'd in 8th grade when I was 14. I was referred to a behavioral psychologist by the therapist I had been seeing for depression.

I got diagnosed at 31. I was formally diagnosed in hospital behavioural thearpy unit. I was diagnosed with ADD at 18. I was also diagnosed with OCD and anxiety and I have recently been diagnosed with post traumatic disorder. I was not working at the time.

i was 24. the reason for that was that asperger syndrome was not in the diagnostic and statistical manual prior to that. i was told unofficially by my female psychiatrist when i was 12 that my form of autism (at that time considered officially to be H.F.A) was more highly functioning than an average H.F.A, and she said that with the passage of time, i would be diagnosed with asperger syndrome.

i was diagnosed in 1996 due to to my having 3 clashes with police in as many months
whatever. i was calculated by doctors to be autistic since before i could even talk.

i have been always able to "odd talk", but i only do that to myself. some may beg to differ. they do not have to "beg" to differ. if they "differ" then i can go home earlier, and i am not in any way any way resistant to peoples eyes glazing over with boredom due to their innate differences from me.
if they want my company, they have to listen to what i say, and if it does not settle well with their expectations, then they are welcome to set me free with their disconnection from the conversation.

so my answer is 24

I was 14 at that time, mom's still in denial though.
That was fifteen months ago.

I was diagnosed at fifteen in the psych ward of the local hospital. I always knew I thought differently than other people, but didn't recognize it as a disability until I was suicidal and unable to cope anymore. People just assumed I was "gifted" or a complete airhead.

I was diagnosed in university. I wholeheartedly believe if I was 5 years younger, I would have been diagnosed MUCH younger.

I was 41.

I was living on benefits, due to extreme social anxiety, panic anxiety, social phobia, agoraphobia... I just can't deal with people. I couldn't keep a job more than three months. I got my first mental breakdown when I was in High School, having been bullied since I was 8. I have always been different, odd, eccentric, trying to fit in, but always failed. I didn't know it was because of Asperger's, before my psychiatrist asked if I was willing to get it tested. (At the tender age of 40.) Got it tested by specialists; a psychiatrist and a neurologist.
Someone had suggested I might have Asperger's a couple of years previously, and I got very upset by the mere suggestion. I was definitely not Autistic!
After the diagnose I have read about this, and I recognize myself. And my family recognizes me. And themselves... I'm the youngest of six and EVERY F-ING ONE has some sort of neurological thing, either AS, ADHD, ADD or a combination of these.

To me it was a huge relief to understand "what's wrong with me".
Now, two years later, I'm starting to realize that the society I'm living in hasn't changed, nor their perception of me. They still think I'm odd, strange, weird, sometimes ridiculous, sometimes bothersome... and treat me like that. I pass as a "normal human being", so the differences are harder to accept and excuse.