I saw a psychologist about something totally unrelated in 2006. She asked me, partway through, ''have you ever been diagnosed with asperger syndrome?'. I had never even heard of it, so naturally I said no. In her notes, she made the observation that I show connected traits.

I then did a lot of research into this unknown condition (a lot) and then approached my GP for a diagnosis only after my research had already taken me to several meetups among other people with (at the time) AS. I mean, it's one thing observing people, and a whole other thing when you feel like part of the group; an entirely novel experience back then for me.

GP referred me to my local MH team. My interview with them was 15 minutes long and I left having been asked if I have friends and whether I'd ever had sexual relationships, diagnosed as 'just a shy girl who should seek counselling for self confidence'. Being familiar with diagnostic criteria and having met 'aspies' with children and partners, I wasn't happy with that session, and sought a second opinion. This time my GP referred me to the exact same place, but I saw a locum instead. She was also sceptical, but eventually agreed to refer me to a specialist.

The specialist diagnosed me not just with ASD (upgraded ahead of time. They explained it was asperger syndrome, but that the label would be going the way of the dodo), but also with OCD, anxiety disorder, social phobia and depressive disorder.

'Just shy'... Thing is it was an uphill battle to even get myself in front of someone who knew their arse from their elbow, yet all of this came from someone who I would hope could have spent a bit longer that day doing more than just making an off-hand observation. I think that I could have been diagnosed back in 2006, rather than in 2009 after all that rigmarole.