Was diagnosis a life changer?

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Hi everyone, I am exploring autism now. I am 36 and have an evaluation scheduled for a few months from now. I don't know what they will say. For the longest time, I thought it couldn't be me because I had figured out so many things. But still, the lingering taste of figuring out so many things, you know? To read about other women with similar experiences as I've researched autism has been so relieving, constructive and good! I look forward to taking it easier on myself with the things I cannot do, and taking a simpler approach to reality.

Made no difference.

Hello. When I finally received a formal diagnosis it did have significant impact on my life.
Firstly, with a diagnosis of ASD, I was finally recognised as disabled and so was then eligible
to apply for social housing.

This firstly was a real God send, as I live on a tiny overpopulated tax haven island, where rental
properties on the private market are scarce, extremely expensive and at the lower end of the
budget, extremely poor quality (apart from social housing, which is still expensive but generally
of a better in terms of quality and size).

So that's the first part that helped.

Secondly, being a diagnosed with ASD, means that I also was then had a detailed and comprehensive explanation as to why my employment record was so inconsistent. Something that before the diagnosis gave some of the biggest bullies in the social service an excuse to subject me to psychological abuse.

So having a diagnosis means that I am now protected by disability discrimination laws, and people are no longer allowed to bully me in the workplace, and if they do, I would have the right to take them to court.

Also, having the label of ASD, means that I will now be considered different to regular able bodied able minded people.
I am someone who is now considered disabled and thus deserve to be protected.

If seeking work, I am no longer the responsibility of normal unemployment work advisers but have been given to a trust who looks after individuals in society who have significant obstacles to employment.

In some circumstances, if for example, my mental health is bad during a particular period, i may even be eligible to benefits without having to seek employment.

Also, while working, I would also be eligible to a employment adviser who would look after my wellbeing, and would
do their best to help me sort out any problems which i may encounter while in the work place.

The diagnosis helps because it gives you closure.

Then you can try to figure out what you're struggling with and focus on sorting it out better.

For me I found the diagnosis useful in terms of working in a call centre years and years ago, they were much easier on you. These days in the UK if you're diagnosed you end up classed as having a disability and companies want you to work for them as they now get a government incentive to hire you as an employee so the company can call themselves a diverse employer.

Well that's cool, at least some people want us. I know Microsoft at one time made a big deal about looking to employ people with ASD, as they valued the way we think out of the box.

Actually, what you have written re self understanding i forgot and I agree with.
I believe that the diagnosis gave me good directions as to what to read up on so that I could gain a better understanding of the condition that I suffer from.

In turn, extensive reading on the subject of Asperger Syndrome / ASD, meant that I was also to gain a fair understanding of what was going on inside my brain with regards to neurotransmitters, as well as how the antidepressants that doctors with a poor understanding of ASD had given me without thinking which aggravated my condition (anxiety, hyper vigilance etc.).

This discovery in turn led me to find a decent doctor who actually listened to their patients, who I explained the issue to with the bad antidepressant that I had been prescribed and convinced her to transfer me to antidepressants that actually worked instead of increasing the anxiety that I suffer from.

Since transferring to the antidepressant which i requested (which i found out about when researching from a survey on meds used to treat ASD which I found on Temple Grandins website), I have been much less anxious and much happier on, I am certainly no longer going through life as if i were on a war battle field, as I was when I was when I was on an SSNRI (duloxetine. i.e. no good for those who are hypersensitive to sensory stimuli).

So, come to think about it, a formal diagnosis likely saved my life.

As without it, I would likely be homeless or in extremely poor quality housing, taken off benefit for living expenses, due to being bullied in the work place or the employment advisers, and on the wrong medication that was causing me to almost go psychotic due to being overly stimulating when it comes to noradrenaline / norepinephrine (which if boosted can make those with already normal to high levels get extremely hyper vigilant!)... phew!

Formal Diagnosis SAVED MY LIFE!! !
I Thank God for the clinical Psychologist who diagnosed me!! !

Yes, for me I started off as severely autistic and getting diagnosed meant I was able to get help.

I just got my formal diagnosis yesterday. I can't say it is life changing yet, but it does give me a sense of peace to have my suspicion confirmed. I'm the same "me" I was before, but I guess I feel whole now.

No.

Somewhat. I was 23, the year was 1998. They said I had "symptoms of Asperger Syndrome." Before that, they thought Bipolar or something else. There wasn't much out there about Asperger's at the time. I heard both Liane Holliday Willey and Temple Grandin speak publicly. I entered Vocational Rehabilitation.

They thought I'd overcome the autism. Ridiculous. I mean, I'm much better now, but I lost 28 jobs. I went back to school for multiple things. It's been a horrible road. I was suicidal a few years ago. I lost my teaching career, my pension. I had to move back in with my parents. I'm on Medicaid, and disability now.

It's so much harder for autistic women. I've been told to forget about my career and just "look for a man to take care of me." I spent years working up to being a full-time teacher. I had dropped out of grad school after the diagnosis and reattempted my career several times after that.

It's a humiliating, embarrassing mess. It's not funny, it's just sad that there's so much ignorance and disrespect out there. It makes me sick to hear how young people aren't getting services that they should be getting. I would have really benefited from social skills training. Instead I got bullied and suffered from two eating disorders.

Major companies across all industries should be required to hire a certain number of autistic people every year. We're not all accountants and computer programmers. I could have been a great PR professional. I looked the part, I got the job. Now I'm living in the desert with my retired parents while everyone I grew up with got to carry on, pretty much on their own terms.

It's been a lifetime of struggle.