Got my official diagnosis this morning

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So it's official, I have Aspergers, confirmed by a psychologist.

Obviously I'm not surprised, as I sought out the diagnosis, but I feel a bit strange now. I've been searching for what feels like all my life for whatever it is that makes life so difficult and stressful to me. I've had diagnoses of depression, anxiety, obsessive thinking, social anxiety etc etc but I always knew it wasn't the whole story. Suddenly after a year of reading and researching everything I can lay my hands on about autism and aspergers, I finally have someone agree with me!

It's such a relief really, to think of myself as a high functioning Aspie instead of a failure at being a human being. It validates my need to resign from my job and take some time off working to see what I want to do next. I am not just being lazy, it really is my neurology.

But it's also a shock because I believed that somehow, someday I would finally understand how to be like other people and be successful, but now I have to begin to accept that it's never going to happen, I'm always going to feel this way. But at least now I can start learning and implementing some strategies to feel better and stop trying to be someone I'm not.

So I'm a bit shellshocked and need some time to let it sink in. I just needed to share my diagnosis with people who will understand. The only other person who knows is my husband and I don't know who else, if anyone, I will tell.

Yep, that was my experience too when I was diagnosed last year. Best wishes

It's been a few years since my offical diagnosis and I felt shellshocked at first as well.

But then a sense of relief started to set in and permeate - it's like I finally have the answer to the key question I had always been unable to frame. I now understand myself on a whole different level and all the pieces started to "click" together.

There have been massive ups and downs since my diagnosis - on the whole however, the diagnosis has been a very good thing for me.

Congratulations! Usually, you'll get a full report in a few weeks (if you haven't gotten it already), with suggestions for ways to cope and improve social skills - things you can work on with a therapist or a licensed social worker. Good luck!

That is all you need to thinking about for now. The rest will all come in time. For now it's all about letting the real Aspie you come out and meeting her.

Congratulations. This is an accomplishment because this is something you made happen through a lot of hard work.

Thanks everyone! I woke up today feeling like a huge weight has been lifted off me that I've been carrying around all my life. It's all true, I wasn't making it up. Yes, I can finally being to know the real me. Amazing.

Congratulations the weight-lifting experience is definitely one I can relate to; I felt exactly the same way after my diagnosis

Congratulations for going through the assessment process too

I can relate to your feelings too. Having that diagnosis relieved me of much guilt and self-deprecation and allowed me to start understanding who I am.

It was only a few months ago and I still have much work to do. In fact sometimes the work that lies in front of me before I can understand how to live in a way I find fulfilling seems huge and sometimes I feel hopeless. But it is never as bad as the time when I thought I was crazy or stupid. The dx was something really good for me too. Be good and listen to yourself

Cool! I can kind of identify. Some days its a burden knowing my diagnosis, but usually there's a sense of freedom and relief from the shame and responsibility of feeling like I ought to be someone very different. I'll probably always be a 10-year-old trapped in a grownup body and that's not really all bad...