How Old Were You At Diagnosis?

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I'm sure this has been asked before, but I'm curious to know what kind of "diagnosed age demographic" makes up the majority of this site, just for interest's sake.


I was 21 when I was diagnosed, my mother saw autism in me by the time I was 8, but didn't pursue a diagnosis at the time because she thought she could handle it herself.

I was tested at 6 the first time by a school psychologist, but it was decided by her and the school district that my issues were behavioral. I suppose so that they didn't have to offer services and accommodations. Later, I was placed in special education classes, for ABA therapy. I was mainstreamed again and later left school. I didn't get my official diagnosis until much later at 31.

A psychologist I was referred to aged 30 for an unrelated matter suspected I was on the autism spectrum.

I was formally diagnosed fourteen years later by a Consultant Psychologist after concluding myself I was on the spectrum.

I had no speech, and was very destructive as a young preschool child.

My mother took me to all sorts of clinics, where they conducted all sorts of tests.

I was diagnosed with Infantile Autism at about age 3, and it was recommended I be institutionalized.

I was fifteen, although I had told them at least a year earlier that I thought I had it.

I was originally diagnosed shortly before age 3 at a Naval hospital after my mom had something of a breakdown from stress related to my behavior and other things going on in the home. I kept spitting out food and trying to bite her when she fed me. In my defense I still clearly remember it all - having baby food spooned into my mouth felt completely overwhelming and like I was being choked with it. I ended up in a program for kids with developmental problems and not long afterward one of the medical guys there explained my condition to my mom using a brochure titled "Autism". I didn't speak until I was 4, which was consistent with the diagnosis. Autism was pretty rare back in 1960.

I was officially diagnosed with Asperger's when I was 19, but my mom noticed that the signs were there long before then.

47

There were clearly issues in childhood, I saw a speech pathologist, psychologists, has testing done to see if I had an intellectual impairment (I didn't)...if I was born much later I would've likely been diagnosed right away, but I was born in the 60s and they didn't think autism existed without intellectual disability and they thought it only applied to boys. So basically they told my parents I wasn't trying and was melting down and acting out for attention and they did a lot of behavior modification therapy with me to force me to not act out and speech therapy to make me sound less odd and pedantic. I wasn't diagnosed until almost 49.

I was a blatant, classic autistic person. There was no mistaking me. Even though I was diagnosed back in 1964.

7 or 8. I remember my mom telling me in the car on the way home from the psychiatrist. I was in the first grade. I remember telling my best friend at the time I had "hamburger syndrome". My mom says I was diagnosed when I was 9 when I was in the psych ward. I had just finished second grade when I was in the psych ward. My mom has always had memory problems and often remembers things incorrectly or not at all. I was 7 or 8 when diagnosed. Back in the early 90's there really wasn't anything that was reliably available for even low functioning autistic kids; plus I lived in the boonies in the smack of middle of nowhere an hour away from the closest city. I can't remember any ABA esque stuff being tried on me. I don't think I would have cooperated anyway. My mom says a teacher from the county would come but again I had no idea what she did and don't remember very well. My mom says I liked her. Again, I doubt this. I do remember this thing were I had to be brushed and pounded on. She would push on my head and it felt like she was breaking concrete blocks over it. I would cry and beg her to stop but she wouldn't because "it had to be done" to help me stop being touch averse. Actually, it made me worse. Eventually I would fight her about it until she realized it was a worthless cause. I never had social skills groups or whatever. My mom claims she tried to get me into one but insurance wouldn't cover it and she was afraid it wouldn't work. Which I doubt it would have.

I was diagnosed at 8, which is extremely rare for a girl on the mild end of the spectrum. It makes me feel like I'm more severe than I really am. It also makes me remember childhood as being like a bug under a microscope. Being diagnosed in adulthood makes you feel like you have an answer, but for some reason being diagnosed in childhood just makes you feel like you have this label that has followed you around, singled you out, and has become stuck to your identity.

But I suppose everyone here will just argue that I'm lucky for getting a label so early in life.

Read "Elijah's Cup." It's about a little boy who was classically autistic as a child, then became Aspergian later. I actually met Elijah.

Temple Grandin seemed classically autistic as a little girl; then, became more Aspergian as she got older.

I was eight when doctors recommended neuropsych testing, but my mom refused. So I wasn't diagnosed until I was nineteen.