Auguste wrote:
My brother is 30 years old and I suspect that he may have Aspergers. But I don't know whether to tell him.
There are a lot of traits and indications over many years that have led me to believe that he might have Aspergers but it only fully clicked with me recently. The more I look into it, the more obvious it becomes. The thing is, he is married now and working as an engineer and has sorted out a life for himself. I'm afraid of rocking the boat if I suggest that he get a diagnosis. Especially as he and his wife both seem happy whereas I am just the sister that lives overseas. I'm worried he might react badly, or that his wife might react badly and I'm not entirely sure he has even heard of Aspergers.
On this site and in a podcast I recently heard, I've come across more and more people who say that it was a real relief to get a diagnosis because suddenly they understood how their brain worked. This got me thinking that I might owe it to him to tell him what I think, bad reaction or not.
I wanted to find out what your opinions are on this.
Is it always better to get a diagnosis? Or should I leave it up to him and his wife to do what's right for them? Is it clear cut?
Thanks in advance!
There is not only relief from finding out you're an aspie. Or at least there is some not so low possibility that you feel bad after you realised that it is nothing easy to deal with.
If your brother has it you might have some weak symptoms, too. And one of your parents. (That's for genetically acquired autism).
If he has trouble with his wife then it is good to tell him, anyhow and try to convince him that this is nothing to just ignore.
An aspie-NT relationship is not easy. And works much better when you know where to start to understand each other.