How did you find out?

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Ironically, I came across AS when I was looking for descriptions of mental disorders for my sister (who is DXd with bipolar) and my ex gf (who has no diagnosis but obviously should). I saw many traits of it fit me more than not. Then I came here shortly after and gradually realized that the two diagnoses I can identify with the most are Asperger's (or autism) and ADHD. Everything else can be considered a part of it, like learning difficulties, social anxiety, bipolarish mood swings (mild manic periods), schizophrenic traits (mild delusions) and I might even add bits of narcissism, too.

It's interesting how I felt related to the character of "Rainman", although I thought I'm far from the level of his weirdness and I'm not a savant at all. So, the whole autism thing escaped me for many years. Currently I'm waiting for the appointment when I will discuss the results of my evaluation with the psychs. My main concerns are relationships with the opposite gender that I'm obviously having difficulties with.

I am 40 yards old (old)! !! !! ! I always knew there was something different about me. One morning I was watching the today show and they had a segment on about a man who was diagnosed with AS in his late 50s. I was like " Hey, that is probably what Ive got". He sent me for some testing- and taaa daaaaa- I was diagnosed at 36.

age 45, half a year ago, a colleague at work (survies over the phone, job sucks), told me he think i have asperger and that he has it too. i believed him right away because i've always known i was way different from other people, and it answered so many questions as to things i did. i looked it up on the internet and so many of the symptoms matched and i took two aspie tests and they said 'you're very likely an aspie'.
i was soooooooooooooooo relieved. because i thought i was stupid, i thought i was a freak. i thought i was more stupid than the stupidiest person you've ever seen. and now i know i'm not.
damn, i would've gone to college if i knew, but i had no faith in my ability. and at my age it's too late to develop a career, or self esteem. i'm ticked off i didn't find out earlier.

I'm 44. I was weird and had problems all my life but I always figured: "eh, I'm just kind of a loser, loaner type". Then in my early 30s I've started having problems with sleep, anxiety and depression. These coincided with starting of a new, more demanding job. So I have been seeing a psychiatrist for over 5 years now, trying all kinds of drugs,nothing works. I went to see Cognitive Behavioral Therapist a few months back (a psychologist) and after the first appointment he said he suspected AS and he want me to get tested. So I found a place and I'm getting tested next month.

Yup. Similar experience.

It seems to me, I also read about this, that lots of people will be getting diagnosed now with AS in their 40s and 50s as they missed the chance of being diagnosed in childhood due AS being relatively new diagnosis.

I'm 16. I was diagnosed with AS at age 5 and a half (according to my mum), but I didn't find out until I was about 10. My mum didn't even tell me, I was just there when she was talking to a friend, and I heard her say "Teri has Asperger's Syndrome" I remember that when I heard her say that, I said something along the lines of "I do? Why didn't you tell me?" I had always known I was different before then anyway, but until my mum said that, I hadn't even heard of AS or autism. Nowadays, I'm OK with having AS, and I even have a friend who's autistic.

Thanks, people for posting! I like reading peoples' stories of how they found out. They're interesting!

I was diagnosed at age 18 (December 2006) just months after starting living on my own after high school. I had been seeing the doctors for a few years ongoing, as I had some bouts of depression, and they thought I was ADHD the whole time - Which I knew 100% I was not.

When I was told of it I had never heard it before. So when my dad gave me an article about it I started reading and just sat their in amazement on how many common traits I had. It certainly explained most of my troubles growing up, both at school, and with my father since he could never quite understand some of my behaviors.

Ironically enough, one of my newer friends who I met a few months ago knew I had Asperger's but never once mentioned it because she thought I already knew I did!

I was 19 when I found out. My mom and I had been talking a lot at the time. I never really felt like I ever really fit into the world. I got the standard overly diagnosed ADHD. Because of that I was put on Ritalin and Adderall. Nether helped. High School was really hard for me, even though I was smart, I just had a really hard time taking tests or doing homework. My mom thought that it might have been fetal alcohol syndrome. She had gotten drunk once, before she even knew she was pregnant with me. After ruling taht out she continued to look up info. Then she found an article on WebMD about Asperger's. A few months later I got the official diagnoses.

I was about 18 years old and I watched a TV reality show where one of the kids in the family had extreme sensitivity to sound. I had never heard of anyone like that before, like me (that was a rather crippling problem for me growing up in a huge loud family). In the show they mentioned that she was autistic.That was the clincher for me. Things started falling into place after that. The hair chewing when I was little, my speech impediment, how I hate it when people try to look me in the eye, how I have trouble recognizing people when I meet them out of context, how all my life I've craved alone time to decompress. It all made sense. I wasn't looking for a diagnosis, neither was anyone in my family. Just one day I noticed that all of the things pointed to the same place.

I wish I didn't have an official diagnosis. It's horrifying. It's done nothing for me but show me I'm even more a freak than I was before. I went from being introverted, eccentric and highly intelligent to having a neurological disorder.

^ This too.