My friend the psychologist (retired)

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A good friend that I went to high school with who I hadn't seen in years dropped by last night. She stayed over and we talked and had a "girls night" of listening to music, drinking beer, and dancing and talking. She is a for real genius but not one of us. She got her PHD in her 20s and was a psychologist in Tennessee for a long time. She's since quit and come back home, she made enough to retire. Anyway I told her about my AS and her eyes got huge and she said "YES!! !! !! !! !! THAT EXPLAINS IT!! !! !! !! I don't know why I didn't think of that at some point!"

She told me it explains everything from back in the day now. We also talked about those of us our age who get dx's later in life after learning to fake. She is of the opinion that if it's mild AS then it shouldn't be so diagnosed because it can cause a mental block against achievement.

We had a blast. She told me I've done remarkably well in passing, and that it's a common thing for us older folks. To be able to be one way in public and another way with our friends. She's quirky too, but not AS. We talked about Flannery O'Connor for hours, which a lot of NT's wouldn't want to do.

Then we decided that since nobody was watching we would play Flo Rida on the YouTube and get down. Which we did, although I was a bit better at it than her as she's never seen the line dance for it. Then we listened to old stuff like Jay Ferguson, Jackrabbit Slim, Bob Segar, Queen, Peter Frampton, Foghat and of course, the Gods of Rock themselves, Van Halen.

But, it was nice to have my opinion validated by her.

You gotta love friends who you can do that with - not see for years and then when they show up it's like no time has passed at all.

I find this interesting - Tony Attwood has said a similar thing, that sometimes he might hold out on a diagnosis if the person is doing just fine in life, as it could rock the boat too much. I didn't think it would matter until I got my own diagnosis and, as much as I wanted it, I found myself having a massive identity crisis. Still, though, I've found it to be the most beneficial thing to happen to me, and has actually done the opposite of causing a mental block - I can move past all the nagging doubts and self-hate and really concentrate on achieving what I want to.

But then there's the question of what is 'mild' and what isn't. I can pass for a NT pretty well, but AS sure as hell isn't 'mild' for me - if anyone saw a meltdown, for e.g., I'm pretty sure I'd be sectioned.