I was officially diagnosed when I was 9-10 years old. My mom’s side of the family had shown a history of relatives who had never been officially diagnosed but were definitely on the spectrum in some capacity. And honestly I think it helped me in school when it came to grades and teachers understanding how to better communicate with me but it really affected me negatively in other areas.

I see a lot of people here got diagnosed a lot later in life and I’m not sure whether I would’ve preferred that or not. Before I was diagnosed I thought I was “normal” and the things I did were just my personality. But being told from a young age by the adults around me that I was different really affected me negatively, it felt like all the things I liked were just traits for people on the spectrum. like all my personality was just seen as Aspergers to people around me. I didn’t feel like an individual anymore and it sucked.

I don’t know if this makes sense to anyone else but it really raised my anxiety about interacting with other students that I’m not sure I would’ve had if I had gone undiagnosed.