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.