Post #10 - Mumsnet: Neurodiversity support thread: Women with suspected/self-diagnosed/diagnosed ASC & ADHD

Back in late 2013 when I was first trying to work out whether I had Asperger Syndrome I ventured upon a thread on Mumsnet and posted a few times under my old username.  I changed my username recently after the cyber attack on the site and because I wanted to be known by a different moniker.

Anyway, here's a link to the new thread: http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/special_needs_recommendations/2399562-Neurodiversity-support-thread-Women-with-suspected-self-diagnosed-diagnosed-ASC-ADHD?msgid=56752860#56752860  I'm finding it an absolutely excellent source of support.  There are a number of amazing posters on there and the way I learn about everything Aspie is to read recommended textbooks, blogs and forum posts.  It's ironic in many ways, since being diagnosed as an Aspie I can't get enough of reading about the condition and how it affects people, especially women.

I've never really known what I wanted to be in life - some people knew at school that they wanted to be a nurse/bus driver/builder etc or go into the family business, but believe me when I tell you that I never really did.  Like many people growing up in the 1980s, we inputted our details into a huge computer and the associated print out suggested that we may wish to be a bramble picker or a shop assistant.  I drifted into a career in the public sector, but it wasn't a great fit for me.  Now, I know that I want to work in the field of Autism in some way.

Post #5 - Post Diagnosis

When the draft report of private diagnosis popped into my inbox I must admit that it made interesting reading and by that, well, it was a bit like being slapped around the face with a rancid wet fish.  Being a typical Aspie, I zoomed in on the negative aspects such that I 'presented younger than my chronological age' and 'my voice had a montone air'.  Yes, even now in middle age I don't really like being criticised as it eats away at my soul.  I did question certain phrases and conclusions via email and on the phone and yes, they got duly amended.

That said, I'm an Aspie and therefore I'm disabled.  I really never thought that I had 'special needs', I really didn't.  I guess that many people don't really.  It's like going into mourning in many ways; certain careers are verboten now and my life felt and indeed still feels, strange.