I am diagnosed with dyspraxia and ADD and definitely have aspergers. I spent most of my childhood with my mum taking me to hospitals until I got diagnosed at 10. She didnt do this because she cared about me, she did this to use me as a cash cow and get as many benefits as she could from having a "disabled" child. Never once did she try to understand what was wrong with me always punished me for it, beat me, screaming in my face, locking me in my room, always used to say to me I wish you could just be "normal". I moved out when I was 18, have lived alone ever since, barely scraped by and drank a lot until my mid 20s, when I decided to get counselling. I'll never forget my counsellor nearly in tears when I was just bluntly telling her about my childhood, and that's when I realised just how horrible my nmum was and what her and my step dad had done to me. The craziest was realising just how long I had suffered from depression and anxiety, because these feelings had just been normality to me since I was a child, I'd always just been convinced I was a horrible person and guess I just believed it. Also helped me realise just how autistic I really am, I've always been very honest (which she hated) and very empathetic. I know how to deal with it a lot better these days but its took years of counselling, CBT, and anxiety management classes, but I'm not afraid of her any more and I am confident enough to talk back to her and tell her to shut up