How Old Were You When You Were Dx'd/Self Dx'd?

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I was diagnosed at age 3

I was diagnosed at age 3

I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at age 9.

58, which was a bit late. Had no idea at all until my mid 50's.

Was made aware at 39... DX'd a few weeks ago.

i was diagnosed as simply "autistic" when i was about 3 years old.

the diagnosticians said simply that i was "mildly autistic", in that i exhibited many autistic traits, but i did not seem to be mentally impaired.

as a baby and child, i was unaffected by people grimacing at me or trying to catch my attention or involve me in any way with their attempted communication.

i did not cry to be picked up.

i did not feel lonely for company and start wailing for attention when left alone in my cot.

i wailed when i wanted something, but beyond that i did not care for affection or communication.

my sisters said they pulled goofy faces at me and tried to catch my attention to entertain me when i was a baby and toddler, and i paid no attention to them.

when people smiled at me i remained devoid of expression.

my parents became worried that there was something wrong with me and referred me for medical evaluation, which resulted in a diagnosis of "mild autism".

when i was 11, my behavior was too difficult for conventional schools to control, and i was referred to special psychiatric units for children and adolescents and i spent most of my school life in that environment.

my psychiatrist was marie bashir (who later became the governer of NSW (just a name dropping thing there)) and i was fascinated with her and she was likewise fascinated by me.

we developed a special relationship and i spent hours in sessions with her describing to her my answers to the questions she asked.

she was researching "autism" as well as providing therapy in those days (1983), and she once told me that she wanted me to participate in a study into a"different classification of autism".

she was working with lorna wing (by correspondence obviously) i believe gathering data for the eventual arrival at the diagnostic inclusion of "asperger's autism" into the dsm 2 or whatever it was at the time.

i had many interviews with her in the presence of university students (no more than 3 at a time).

so at that time, i believe it was believed by them that i would fit this new criteria, but i grew up and left before it was included in the dsm eventually in 1994.

in 1996 when i was 24 years old, i was in trouble for my 3rd drink driving charge and my lawyer wanted to find out more about my psychiatric history for my defense, and i was sent, together with the notes gathered by marie bashir, and my siblings and parents to an analyst who diagnosed me with the now valid "asperger syndrome" diagnosis.

Around 23, and actually it was my sister who said she though I might have that and so I looked into it. I remember my mom got sort of mad at her because she thought it would upset me or something but actually it made a lot of sense, with a lot of social difficulties I've had and sensory issues.

I've suspected since I worked with Autistic adults in mid-2000's, officially diagnosed high-functioning Autistic by psychiatrist at age 43 on Monday of this week.

When I was 13 (I still am!) .

Suspected it since I was 11. Formally diagnosed whe I was 14. I'm glad that I was diagnosed relatively young compared to some members here, but I still wish we knew a bit sooner. I think I could've had a better relationship with my family and trust people more. Or maybe not. But I'm still young, so I still have a lifetime to potentially fix that.

I never heard of it till my mom told me she thought I had it after I graduated high-skwel. I did alittle research & it seemed to fit so I thought I had it but I didn't dwell on it much. I was 18 at the time. I was misdiagnosed when i was officially tested at 20. I was told I had Aspergers but it was due to Schizoid Personality Disorder instead of autism.

Professionally diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome when I was about nine or so - and I'm female. I had no idea what it meant until five years later. My parents saw some sort of show or something about it and thought it sounded a lot like me.

Saw "Rain Man" when it came out on video in 1989 but never connected it to me.

Amateur Dx by my boss in the late 1990's but I thought he was bullying me.

I noticed the TV character "Temperance Bones" had similarities to me and read she might be an Aspie. I thought that combined with what my old boss said means I probably have it. At the time it never went beyond the mild curiosity stage so I never realized how important it was.

Diagnosed professionally at age 55 after intervention by siblings following probable "autistic burn out". My sister works with autistic children and picked it up.

I believe I was diagnosed as being on the spectrum when I was 18 months old.

-LegoMaster2149 (Written on September 13, 2017)

I was 7.