First Reaction when you were diagnosed with AS

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That was exactly my reaction, too.

Mine are the other way around, though the rest of your statement applies to them, too.

("You pull this whole ASD thing on yourself only to escape responsibility and duty.")

Hmm, I was 7 at the time so, if anything, I was too busy being fascinated with spinning to care what AS was. Come to think of it I still am, got to go...

Spinning is awesome. To answer to OP, I've been diagnosed three times. After the third time, I told my mom, who said, "we've known for years. We just didn't tell you". I guess I don't know how I felt when I was diagnosed the first time, because I didn't know.

"That explains a lot."

I was told as a kid, so it was good to know why I was different from the other kids. Still didn't really understand exactly what it was until a few years later though.

"That explains everything!! !! !! !! !", was my response. It sure felt better to have a common denominator for 80% of all of my issues which made me feel different or even lacking in human nature, for the previous 42 years. AND, it's amazing how much easier it is to cope with, or even work to resolve, situations which have frustrated me for all this time, and for which the conventional coping techniques can't work.

Charles

My reaction -- and I was formally diagnosed when nearly 60! -- was, "COOL!" I have never minded being weird, but it's nice to know why. Now I sign my emails with, "I don't have Asperger's Syndrome -- I revel in it!"

I was somewhat uncomfortable with it but for the most part pretty indifferent. It was something my parents had to deal with not me.

I was (and still am) 19 when I was diagnosed. At first I was little upset because I didn't know which parts of myself were actually 'me' and which parts were just autism. Now I know that it's all rolled into one which is all 'me' and I've accepted asperger's as a part of myself. My mum was the one who initially thought I had an ASD and was the reason we went to get the diagnosis so it didn't come as a shock to her.

No reaction since it had already been brought up and talked about many times before I was dx'd, so I was very prepared and had already pretty much decided I had it, I was obviously far too eager and more then a little foolish since I was incorrect and ended up misdiagnosed.

My reaction was also very matter-of-fact. Just "Yeah, I can see how enough of the symptoms fit me." I had always fit in well, and was just "quirky", so I didn't really feel the diagnosis explained a lot until I started reading up on it. Hearing personal stories that described my manner of thinking and behaviors perfectly was a revelation; I never really realized how differently my brain worked than others. This might sound arrogant, but I simply assumed it worked better (due to my high intelligence and excellent memory).

Mine are the same way

I was thinking "In your face hatters!" I had several people on here tell me from what they have read of my posts I was not autistic.

Well, I was diagnosed AS when I was still 4 yrs old so I can't speak for myself. However, I'm glad tht I was diagnosed since 4yo because I now know about my problems, how to face it (well, some problems, not everything has a solution) and that I am not alone with all the differences.
On the other hand though I hate having AS, and would prefer to be a normal/NT guy.