How do you feel about you autism diagnosis?

[Magna]

Getting my official Dx was one of the best things in my life. It brought me a peace and self-acceptance that I literally never would have had if I'd just kept slogging through life thinking I was a loser compared to others and always wondering why. My Dx helped me realize that I'm not a loser in the least; I'm autistic.

 

[StrayCat]

Relieved that I finally don't have to mask so hard in order to survive among vicious humans. Having to pretend for so long that I'm "relatively normal" turned me into quite a misanthrope, since I despise pretending and wholeheartedly dislike everyone who forces me to do that...

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Relieved that I finally don't have to mask so hard in order to survive among vicious humans. Having to pretend for so long that I'm "relatively normal" turned me into quite a misanthrope, since I despise pretending and wholeheartedly dislike everyone who forces me to do that...

I don't know what to say. Despite my social deficits I was treated kindly by some, badly by others, but mostly ignored. Being ignored was the hardest. To achieve goals for myself I could not pretend but had to learn to be effective in dealing with people.

 

[StrayCat]

Being ignored was the hardest.

Heh, I always loved being ignored, being left alone has always been neat. I thought it was normal for autists actually?

To achieve goals for myself I could not pretend but had to learn to be effective in dealing with people.

That's the problem, the more effective I'd like to be, the more I would have to lie. Basic "fawning" I can do, especially since I like helping, but anything beyond that and I would have to go full "actor" mode, and I never liked acting...

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Heh, I always loved being ignored, being left alone has always been neat. I thought it was normal for autists actually?


That's the problem, the more effective I'd like to be, the more I would have to lie. Basic "fawning" I can do, especially since I like helping, but anything beyond that and I would have to go full "actor" mode, and I never liked acting...

Basic research is where I learned to advocate for myself and my ideas and how to write effectively to convince readers to come to the conclusion I wish to make. In my work, lieing is impermissible. I never had to act against my nature as a peer among equals. All of this started me towards my goal to mature more socially and seek to enjoy an intimate relationship, Maslow's third tier, though I would argue that intimacy is substantially in the first tier.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Never got diagnosed and have no reason to get so.

 

[Calrid]

I always had a suspicion I was autistic when I felt really different from my family in a way I couldn't describe. I'm pretty happy with my diagnosis but my family still doubts that I am autistic because I don't "act like it" or "I use it as a crutch too much".

Your damned if you do and damned if you don't. Way it is though isn't it: you spend so much time acting like people expect you to be, that they really don't understand how much effort it is, and then you try and explain that it is not exactly you, you're considered to be using it as a crutch.

 

[Starfire]

Every day that passes I’m more convinced that my diagnosis is wrong. I have many problems like everyone, but I’m not autistic, they got it wrong. I don’t believe I have ASD, and I’m thinking about looking into having it overturned and struck from my medical records.

 

[Slim Jim]

Never got diagnosed and have no reason to get so.

Apart from bureaucratic reasons, being eligible for assistance. It will not change your life. The reality still remains.

Every day that passes I’m more convinced that my diagnosis is wrong. I have many problems like everyone, but I’m not autistic, they got it wrong. I don’t believe I have ASD, and I’m thinking about looking into having it overturned and struck from my medical records.

I have felt this way. I know, there's something...different, about me. (So if not this, then something similar. )

My initial response to diagnosis. Anger, Suprise, Annoyance, Protest, Denial, Defiance.

I'm not someone who can , who could, take solace in being stigmatized, labeled with a mental disorder that singles you out and ostracizes you , separates you from the rest of the social order. I did not see it as a good thing, in any way, conceivable.

I was an adolescent at the time. I chose to ignore it. Yeah,now that I think about it, I was one very pissed off Teenager.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I was surprised at my diagnosis but as I learned what exactly was Asperger’s did a lot of things that I did or had done make a lot of sense. The diagnosis helped explain why I’d get so upset when I was frustrated and made a scene and that I wasn’t doing it “for attention” as some adults had previously believed. It also explained why I could easily learn and comprehend some subjects and even give good presentations on them but struggled so much with most math and sciences. I was being taught in a way that my mind couldn’t fully comprehend and a different approach could have helped. I am at peace with being on the spectrum and think it’s part of who I am and I’ve learned how to adapt daily living to prevent meltdowns.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I'm retired, no advantage in knowing now.