I also went down the path of taking online tests, and they pretty much all said I was probably autistic. One in particular used terms that expressed certainty lol. Still, I had been misdiagnosed in the past with another mental health condition, so I shopped around and found an autism assessment that I could afford and felt confident in. Even though the assessment by a psychologist that is an expert on autism, 2 psychologist friends, and a separate therapist confirmed it, I still had some doubts that slowly went away. I still have the doubts here and there, but I feel comfortable with the identity. Being “non-autistic” my whole life, to then suddenly find out I’m autistic, has been a hard process to accept. It’s not that I don’t want to be autistic. It’s more that I’m learning I’m something new that I never considered in the past. Basically, it’s a major identity change that I guess takes its time to settle.
Yes, the adjustment is … bumpy. I have crazy imposter syndrome, along with reflection of “what if” instances about my past had I known. Congrats on your diagnosis though!
Congrats! Welcome to the club 🙂
I also went down the path of taking online tests, and they pretty much all said I was probably autistic. One in particular used terms that expressed certainty lol. Still, I had been misdiagnosed in the past with another mental health condition, so I shopped around and found an autism assessment that I could afford and felt confident in. Even though the assessment by a psychologist that is an expert on autism, 2 psychologist friends, and a separate therapist confirmed it, I still had some doubts that slowly went away. I still have the doubts here and there, but I feel comfortable with the identity. Being “non-autistic” my whole life, to then suddenly find out I’m autistic, has been a hard process to accept. It’s not that I don’t want to be autistic. It’s more that I’m learning I’m something new that I never considered in the past. Basically, it’s a major identity change that I guess takes its time to settle.
Yes, the adjustment is … bumpy. I have crazy imposter syndrome, along with reflection of “what if” instances about my past had I known. Congrats on your diagnosis though!