Aperger's diagnosis in Later years

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If you were diagnosed with Asperger's as an adult, why did you decide to get the diagnosis?

So people would get off my back about why, at my age, I have no kids, am not married, don't own a home, have no 401(k) plans and don't go to social functions.

Still working on the official diagnosis, but I know what I know.

Why get it *officially*? Or why learn about it?

Officially:

1.) Money. Income tax purposes - there's a sizeable annual deduction for life. It's currently around $8,000.00/year.
2.) So that family members who like denying they're anything like me can stop discounting what I've learned as being self-diagnosed BS.

To figure it out & learn about it:

1.) To learn about myself, AS, other diagnoses & how to best manage them all in order to be the best version of myself I can, so that in turn I'm in the mental and physical shape required to achieve the goals I'd like to tackle in life. Pretending there wasn't anything different about me would only serve to allow it to constrain me from reaching goals vs. learning about it and how to overcome it as much as possible. Definitely better knowing than being completely oblivious to yourself and the way you really are, IMO.

I didn't. I had a psychiatrist who was in line behind me at a Starbucks in Seattle came to me. When it came time for me to place my order. He had pointed out to me that I wasn't reading the clerk's body language. after that. We had a chat for a half hour and concluded that I have Aspergers and told me to look into it. I later was able to confirm it. and now I am here with my life completely turned upside down.

So that I could stop wondering "Am I? Am I not?" and to get an objective opinion. I wanted to understand who I am. This is the "peace of mind" justification.

Also, because I wanted to consult this particular psychologist (an ASD specialist) about stress and sensory sensitivity, and thought that a diagnosis would put us both in the picture. After all, some therapy is done differently with Aspies (e.g. CBT). This is the "it can be useful for getting further services" justification - where the further services in this case were professional psychological ones.

It might also come in handy if I need to argue for accommodations, although I already get away with some sensory accommodations without too much bother (e.g. switching off fluorescent lights in my office). This is the "accommodations at work" justification.

That about covers my reasons.

I didn't exactly "decide" to get it ... I had been having treatment for depression/anxiety for several years but nothing made any difference. Then one time when I saw the psychiatrist he asked if I'd been tested for AS, I said no, so he referred me, and that's how I got diagnosed.