Newly diagnosed individual

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Dear Wrong Planetarians,

Hello to you all! I thought I'd introduce myself to the community. My name is Dr. William Proctor (call me Billy, please) and I am a senior lecturer at Bournemouth University. I am 43 years old. I was diagnosed with ASD only a month or so ago and this came as quite the shock to my partner and I. Having been passed from pillar-to-post for over twenty years, as well as a bevy of psychological (mis)diagnoses, the transition to autistic identity has been difficult to manage. I fully understand that having a diagnosis can make a lot of sense, but I expect that what I am going through at present is a kind of grieving for the person I thought I was. It is, in many ways, a kind of death and a rebirth.

Both my partner and I are academics, so we are working on a book about the diagnosis. This will be from the perspective of myself dealing with the diagnosis -- what it means, what my own unique version of ASD looks like -- with follow up chapters written by my neurotypical partner, Dr. Ann Luce, on how she is negotiating and learning about the condition and her new partner ('new' because I am transitioning). The working title of the book is: 'Love in the Time of Autism'. I do hope you let me know what you think!

Nice to meet everyone! As I have been trying to find a therapist that assist with newly diagnosed adults -- and failing (apparently such creatures are unicorns, at least in Dorset, UK) -- I was encouraged to try Wrong Planet as support mechanism. Plus, I am a motormouth, so I like to debate and discuss!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, folks!

All the best

Billy

Thanks for your introduction. I like the topic of your forthcoming book!

Too often, partner relationships seem to be described as "strained" or worse. Sharing and describing the dynamics within a successful relationship adds much to the dialogue about autism.

Thank you.

Welcome, Billy.

You'll find plenty of folks here who are going though, or have been through, that same transition. The convoluted route that you took before finally getting a diagnosis is, sadly, all too common. I can understand the "death and rebirth" feeling, especially when you have spent years having "experts" trying to convince you that your state is only a temporary thing that some drug or intervention will take away, only to find that it is actually a core part of your being.

I'm two years post-diagnosis now, and I've found that places like this have been incredibly helpful for coming to terms with it. As you say, finding a specialist therapist is like searching for rocking-horse poo - around my neck of the woods there is only one, and she is totally inaccessible unless you are on the books of local social services.

I'll definitely be interested to hear about the progress of your book. Far too little of the current literature is aimed at adults on the spectrum, and less still written by authors who are on the spectrum themselves. Always good to see that being addressed.

Hi there Billy,

Welcome to WP! The book sounds like it would be an interesting read. I'm quite newly diagnosed myself. It's only been a few months and initially I felt like counselling might help me too but you are right. It's like finding a unicorn! Anyway, it's nice to "meet" you

Welcome! I agree, that book does sound interesting.

Hello and good luck on your book!

Hey, I'm a teen with Asperger's I love math and study it daily with hopes of becoming a math professor for the university of Calgary. I was diagnosed on November 2 this year and they did an IQ test, and I have an IQ in the 98-99th percentile