New Here, question about (dis)advantages of formal diagnosis

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Hi All. Just discovered this board and would like to briefly introduce myself. My name is Gary, I'm 35 years old, male, and I am pretty certain that I've got Aspgerger, or some other sort of high functioning autistic disorder. In many ways I don't think my symptoms are nearly as extreme as other cases I've heard about, but on the other hand I think I certainly have many of the traits of someone with one of these diseases (I have a horrible time with eye contact - I find making eye contact to be very intimidating - I have very good friends, but very few friends, social situations like parties very hard for me - carrying on a conversation in general is very hard for me, I always like to be holding something in my hands, and although I have a wide variety of interests, there have always been one or two interests that were particularly fascinating to me, especially as a child - perhaps to some degree less so now that I'm an adult). I'd also say with about 95% certainty that my father has the same thing I do, though I've never really discussed it with him. I'd never heard of Asperger or the concept of high functioning autistic (though I have to say I always thought myself similar in some ways to "Rain Man" - just a lot less extreme - just never knew that was formally classified as a disorder etc.), until I saw an episode of Boston Legal a few years ago and the character that had Asperger I couldn't help but notice had tons of similarities to me - maybe that character more extreme in some ways, but still very similar. So I looked all this up on Wikipedia at that time and realised that its all way too similar to me for me not to think that I've got some disorder related to all this. So, I guess my question is, is there any real value at this point in my life at 35 years old to being formally diagnosed? I know that there's no cure, but is there any real treatment or therapy that would make a significant difference in my life? I mean, in most respects I get along fine in life - I have a good job, make a good salary, I do have a few friends, but on the other hand, socially I'm just not too good, and I know (people have told me so) that most people can tell I'm different - not a good feeling by any stretch. Still, most of what I hear about therapy for this or things that can be done all involve intervening during childhood, and I'm way past that. In a lot of respects I'm very happy with who I am - I'm not entirely sure I'd want to change, or to be 'normal', even if I could be, but then again if being more 'normal' were an option I'd at least want to consider it.

The answer is, it depends.
On where you live.
On what you want.
On how much you value the opinion of doctors.

From the tone of your posting, I'd say you don't have much to gain from a professional DX. But depending where you live, having a piece of paper like that counts for something. Other places, it doesn't. It's a different path, also depending on the medical programs you're entitled to.

Anyhoo, welcome to WP. I'm 50, and just recently woke up to the fact that I'm AS. Read the boards here, and do join in the discussions.

Welcome to WP!

depends...as they said. Some states might hold it against you, but more likely any flak would come from potential businesss.
i've held off...maybe some day (our mental health plan gives you 28 lifetime visits)
Welcome

"Hello," Gary, and welcome to Wrong Planet. Here's wishing you all the WP best in your decision about whether or not to seek diagnosis. Take care now and keep those posts coming.

Nice to meet you, ScrewyWabbit.