Just got out of my diagnostic interview about 15 minutes ago. I am officially autistic.
Still processing everything and what that actually means for me, but it’s official.
Welcome to the club! For me it was just nice having explanations for things. Instead of just labeling myself as a lazy weirdo, I can try to be easier on myself knowing normal things are just more difficult for me.
That’s a huge revelation! If you’re like me, it’s going to be an odd roller coaster of acceptance, joy, insight, confusion, and changes in your social network. I recommend looking up videos on YT for individuals that recently found out they were autistic. Also, become active in an autistic community so you have others to help you navigate the new world you will find yourself in. Feel free to post as many questions as come up on this community! That’s what we’re here for.
In case you’re an adult: https://lemmy.world/post/31861
How did you find the process? I’m just kicking off the same. The waiting lists are LOOOONG, and I’m still in the am-i/aren’t-i phase…
I went though embrace-autism.com. From start to finish the whole process was 9 months and 19 days and cost $1700.
I submitted the screening late August 2022, got a reply October 2022 that I can proceed to the diagnostic assessment if I wish. I proceeded to the next step that day and received a response January 2023 that my diagnostic interview was June 2023.
The hardest part was the waiting in between steps. Doing the screening tests I was surprised how high my scores were, so I did them a couple of times just to make sure I was doing them “right”.
Getting the response that I can proceed to the diagnostic assessment was a bit a validation that perhaps I really am autistic but I still had a lot of imposter syndrome, so I went ahead.
One of the biggest fears I had is that this might have been a really expensive “No”, there was a lot of mixed emotions on the call with Dr. Engelbrecht when she told me I am autistic. It was the validation I was looking for and the imposter syndrome is gone.
I’m now deciding if I want to go on to the next step to work with a medical doctor and perhaps explore whether I qualify for some tax benefits with my new diagnosis to help pay for some coaching/counseling. There really needs to be a course one can sign up called “how to be autistic” or something.
Congratulations!
Congratulations!
