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I’m a 54 year old male, who was diagnosed with ASD this past Friday. I haven’t shared it with my family or even my regular therapist yet. I am not sure how to process this. The psychiatrist who evaluated me gave me the diagnosis. And that was that. She’ll be mailing me the report and more resources. But I feel very “Now what?”

(Watched a video interview of Sarah Hendrix and she mentioned this site. So here I am.)

Welcome! It's good that at least you know one factor that has contributed significantly to your life. Ask questions here on WP and read other people's experiences. I hope you find WP useful.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welcome to WP! I hope you enjoy the company here.

And congratulations on the diagnosis. You muddled through half a century without the diagnosis so I'm going to guess your situation might not be too different from mine when I got diagnosed at age 64.

Getting the diagnosis waswonderful! It explained so much of my life experience. But I can't say it has much practical value. (I have tried to get one practical use out of it: getting my doctors to put stuff in writing. Which they seldom did before my diagnosis. Now I can tell them of my diagnosis which I think supports my need for getting stuff in writing. Sigh. I still seldom get stuff in writing.)

I waited until I could tell my family in-person about my diagnosis. In hindsight I didn't need to do that. (a) They already thought I was odd, so no change there, and (b) when you get right down to it, no action is required on their part. Mainly their reaction was to wonder if my diagnosis might tell them something about themselves. (I think the only thing it really tells them about themselves is that they are related to someone with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1 (Mild) diagnosis...that is, my diagnosis doesn't seem to have much practical value for them, either.)

The exception is my father, who was 89 when I got the diagnosis. He was completely, utterly, actively disinterested! But then, he was 64 before Asperger's Syndrome was added to the DSM and he was in his 80's before the DSM "created" the Autism Spectrum. So, from his standpoint, it is just a bunch of newfangled nonsense. And, yes, he already knew I was "weird"—and knew that it had worked well for me.

Oh, I guess I can think of two practical benefits of my diagnosis:
(1) A new special interest! ^{You're here, so maybe you have a new special interest, too!}
(2) When my bride bumps up against one of my Aspie traits I can tell her "I have a Doctors note for that!"
(2)= ^{I find this much more amusing than she does!}

Welcome, chealy5!

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

I just told my sisters last evening. (Both my parents are deceased.) I did it by email, so I could attach the psychiatrist’s letter—I guess in a way “proving” it was real. I didn’t feel I could just do it face to face. No response as yet, and not sure if there will be until I visit them again (I live in a different state).

And yes, I do feel a sense of relief. I now understand why I am inconsistent on completing tasks and follow through. And can develop better strategies to improve on that so my life can be less stressful.

Welcome to Wrong Planet.