Female official diagnosis stories?

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Not diagnosed yet. But have an appointment with an Autism Specialist in Houston on Feb. 21. I'll chime in more then...

I never talked to my parents. My mother would be awful and my father I would not want to hurt or disappoint. I wish I could talk to my sister about it, though.

Mis-diagnosed, useless medications and misunderstanding, the story of my life which manifested eventually into social anxiety. When my son was 17 months old I realised he had autism and was officially dx at 25 months old. I wanted to learn about ASD and so I did, I stumbled on some info on the web about women and girls and realised I was on the spectrum as was my mother and 5 year old daughter. Dx was easy and quick, I presented info to my GP was refered and Dx after a 2 hour consultation with a psychiatrist. At first I was delighted to finally have answers and to be able to learn about the real me. I have been pretending for 36 years it is a very hard habit to stop. I am currently depressed about the whole situation, I can't ever see me improving my communication and indeed having the courage to get out there again. I am desperate to be a good role model to my kids and especially my girl who is an aspie. My son is classed as severely disabled with his ASD at this time. I am determined though that my children will not have those awful negative feelings about themselves like I do. They are the bravest kids I know, my son cannot speak but he sings, my daughter cannot stand crispy socks but loves to roll around on a sheepskin rug. The most unique kids who have shown me courage.

I'm on the road to diagnosis now. My kid got a diagnosis earlier last year and the whole process was very confronting for me. I mean, a whole world upside down, learning how to deal with the whole autism stuff? Quite the challenge. Especially when you start to look at yourself in a whole different way... I want a diagnosis mainly for myself, and perhaps to get a bit of understanding from some people around me (who don't seem to take my word for it when I tell them I have the feeling that something's 'off' about me, and how I've felt as a kid. "Oh, you're just shy!" and all that other fantastic input).

So, finally managed to chat up with my doctor a couple of weeks back and I've been placed on a waiting list for a regional autistic diagnostic center. The whole thing feels like a HUGE rollercoaster and quite scary, but darn it, I want some clarity. Some sort of conformation that I'm not crazy or making things up. That there's a reason why I've felt different from most girls for the most part of my life. I've understood that diagnosis for adults (not to mention women) can be quite difficult, but that makes me all the happier that I've been transferred to a specialized thingy. We'll see how things go from here