How old were you when you found out you were autistic

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When I was 7. I was diagnosed at that age, but my parents didn't tell me straight away. I found out by accident.

I talked with a doctor who dealt with autism only when I was around 50. He felt in all likelihood I had Aspergers or a PDD, not otherwise specified. I guess I had suspected Aspergers for a long time and this "quasi-official" diagnosis just helped me to see how my past showed many examples of some type of autistic behavior. I was finally able to connect the dots and see I had always been autistic. I had always known I was different from others but I didn't know in what way.

So when did you find out?

It would really annoy me if I found out my parents didn't tell me!

I first came across a mention of Asperger Syndrome on the problem page of a magazine just before I turned 40. It said that people with AS have difficulty communicating and forming relationships and I immediately thought 'that sounds like me!' That was the main issue that had taken me into counselling therapy time and time again and to no avail. I lost count of the number of mental health professionals I saw, and not one of them picked up on what was the real cause of my difficulties.
I had never heard of AS before seeing it mentioned in that magazine, although since the time I entered school I had always stood out as different to my peers and I felt that I was just not normal in any way. After almost a lifetime of sensing on the deepest level that there was something seriously wrong with me, I finally got a formal diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome when I was 42.

I was diagnosed at 28, so it was a relief to find out why I've always been different than others. I've had traits of Asperger's, but until my late 20's, people didn't realize autism was a spectrum, and that it's not just a boy's thing. It was actually a therapist I was seeing for misdiangosed depression that suggested I might have traits of autism/Asperger's.

I read your post and I found it amazing! thank!

I was 13, and it was really traumatic. It even led to a psychosomatic stiff neck because of comments from an occupational therapist about my eye contact which led me to be too afraid to lift my neck up. I have semi-accepted the fact that I have Asperger's, but deep inside, I am still in denial.

I found out when I was 36.

Sorry, what I meant was I was diagnosed at 7, then found out by accident a little later, also at 7. Yeah, I'm not sure why they didn't tell me right away.

7

I first read about autism when I was in sixth grade, in a Reader's Digest condensation of a book called "For the Love of Ann." I had suspected something was different about me since I was about six years old, but nobody gave me any kind of diagnosis.

I first read of Asperger Syndrome in 1997, when I was 32 years old. I was never formally diagnosed, but many of the traits described fit me.

I was 16 although people had speculated that I had it long before I even knew what autism was and I wasn't officially diagnosed with autism until I was 23.

I found out at age 10 and before then, my mom and teachers were all suspicious that I had Asperger's. My aunt suspected it right after I was born because I would turn away from people. I also made weird words as if I was speaking another language and I had a weird gait. It was very interesting to see what the psychologist said about me 10 years ago. He said some things about me that I didn't even know or think about much.

I had little to no idea I was autistic as a child. As elementary school progressed, the gap of what was normal for kids to learn and what I could learn became very large. I knew I was different, but I had no idea.
I learned what it was when my neurologist was explaining why it was harder for me to learn to write or speak.

I got my diagnosis only a year ago, at the age of 13. I'm glad I found out before high school started, so I can counter certain autistic things. I always knew I was different, but I figured I was just antisocial and had something wrong with my bones. My mother and my father never talked about it.

I was diagnosed at 11 but didn't find out until I was 21. Until then I knew nothing about neurological disorders. I had gone to a special middle school, but to me the reason was behavioral problems, and I thought everyone there (including me) was on a spectrum between sane and insane, not a spectrum of disorder. (One girl was sent away to a psychiatric institution while I was there, so maybe that's where I got this idea.) I guess I thought that to be disordered had to mean that you were severely ret*d.

Writing it all out, my understanding of the situation was a real mess. Nobody explained jack sh** to me, lol. But that's okay because I learned a lot at that school, developed social skills and confidence, and had a wonderful time. I think for me it was probably better to grow up without labels.