Hi everyone

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I'm Scott, 59yo, and I just got diagnosed officially last week, and I'm feeling pretty much like an imposter (something I'll have to post about later).

Anyway, I'm glad this site exists (I've been lurking on the public forums while waiting for my diagnosis) and hope to make some friends here, and to understand myself a bit better.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welcome! Diagnosed at age 68, two years ago. I found learning of my autism was life changing. What a relief to know every painful struggle and interaction of my past was not "all my fault". It is a lot to sort out. there is a lot of combined experience in this group, lifetimes of autistic insights and information. Also, there is a useful search feature at the top of the page to find previous discussions on almost any topic. Glad you are with us. You are not alone!

Hi Scott. Welcome to Wrong Planet.

Welcome to WP! I hope you find some of what you are looking for here.

Oh, I had no clue about Autism or that it might apply to me until I was 64—and then got the hint, followed it, and got my diagnosis while I was 64.

It explained so much!

Oh. By that time I was comfortably retired. While the Autism probably affected my whole life, the diagnosis came so late it was more like interesting trivia. (But trivia I was delighted to know!)

Thanks for the welcome, everyone! It looks I'm definitely not the oldest-diagnosed here

I think I'm past the initial "what?!" part of it (and even though it wasn't a surprise based on all my research over the past 6 months, it was still odd to me to have someone with credentials agree with me on it...) but I figure there's still a long ways to go for me in incorporating ths into my self-concept.

Before I was 64, that is, before I had a clue, I was very unknowledgeable about Autism. I was vaguely aware of Rain Man but had never seen it, but I think my false preconceptions about Autism were sort of consistent with it.

If someone had suggested I was Autistic I would've thought they were probably being rude. (Before anyone castigates me on this please remember the following: I admit I was clueless then and that I now know I am definitely on the Autism Spectrum. And the folk on Wrong Planet clearly illustrate how wide and varied that spectrum is.)

Two related notes:

(1) Rain Man [1988] has not yet made its way into our video collection but our collection now has a few Autism-related videos...chosen because we thought we'd enjoy them. (My bride added Temple Grandin [2010] to our collection well before we suspected I was Autistic but I didn't watch it until after I was diagnosed, the others have been added after I was diagnosed.)

(2) A few current celebrities have announced they are on the Autism Spectrum—those tidbits of info are somewhat interesting. However, the famous historical figures thought to possibly have been Auties or Aspies is depressing! If even only a third of them are actually Autism Spectrum I am awed...my ego and self-concept took a brutal beating when I did that Internet search!

Greetings and Welcome and watch out for the road construction signs ahead; just kidding, as I hope you enjoy yourself during your stay here scott162