Any PhD students here?

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I'm starting an MA program in history this fall (and intend to get my PhD after that, probably six or seven years total). I've always done very well at school, though I work slowly and process information more slowly than most of my peers so timed tests and the like have always been a struggle. Since an early age I realized that I can memorize information easily and so I've used that to try to compensate for my general slowness. I didn't even know about Asperger's until about a year ago so I've had do make do without disability accommodation. I'm not sure if a diagnosis would behoove me in grad school (my school counselors seem pretty sure that I have it and that a diagnosis probably wouldn't tell me anything that I don't already know).

At any rate, my professors generally like me and think highly of my ability to succeed; I had one who told me that academia is one of the few places where the characteristics of Asperger's are actually beneficial. When I explained how it is much easier for me to work with written rather than spoken material, he replied how in history it is necessary to be able to devote a great of time to working with texts. Reflecting on my own past I think that my unrelenting obsession with Japanese history has been invaluable to me as a motivating force. It's driven me to do some really difficult and onerous things, like leaving home for the first time to study Japanese in Japan--taking intensive classes that amounted to three years worth of study in about one year. One of my Japanese instructors said she had never had a student who worked as hard as I did. This tendency can also work to my detriment as I often push myself too hard and don't know when to give myself a break. I'm currently on anxiety medication to try to lessen the "I need to study until I die of exhaustion" proclivity. In general I'm glad that I am the way I am and it looks like things are going to work out for me in terms of my long-term goal of getting a doctorate. I've been able to get into a school that grants teaching fellowships for six years and I've also received an FLAS for my interest in Asian languages and history (paying my tuition and fees and giving me a stipend to live on).