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What age were you diagnosed? (formal or self-dx)

Posted by Baph

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Forum: autistics Group

Or: When did you first realize you were on the spectrum? 


I was a super late bloomer with it. I self-dx'd when I was about 25, and got my formal diagnosis at 28. Funny enough, the thing that got me to realize I was autistic was somebody talking to me about how well I wrote Symmetra from Overwatch!

What about you guys? :)

PS: Please no discourse about self-diagnosis. I believe it's a valuable tool for a lot of people and definitely has a place in helping people discover themselves when researched properly.




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Reply by Keegan

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I discovered pretty recently after a long conversation with my therapist, when I was 14. I can't get a professional diagnosis for complicated reasons but it made me feel a lot better to know about myself


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Reply by tempest/virgil

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i was late diagnosed at 19 in march 2021. (im 20 now!)


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Reply by Beck

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I got diagnosed pretty late at 18. It was such a long time coming. I wish i was diagnosed as a child, I feel like my school experience would have been much better. I happy I managed to get one, it has made supports easier to access.


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Reply by CORKSCREW

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i forgot but ive been coming into more proper terms with my autism around 2019 or so. I forogt when i started saying outright that i'm autistic but im pretty sure it was in 2020 or 2021 (former sounds correct!!)


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Reply by XX.bxbyy.cassandra.XX

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I was diagnosed at age 4 when I started kindergarten so I was very young when diagnosed with autism


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Reply by Muzu

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like 4-5 months ago ( i self-diagnosed myself but all the traits are there)  


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Reply by Pixie XOXO

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I was misdiagnosed with ADHD when I was three and got an autism diagnosis last year when I was 13!!


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Reply by P1x

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I only got a professional diagnosis at 18, but I  had been thinking about it for about 4 years before that.


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Reply by Ren

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last year, June time I think lol


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Reply by Cici

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i self diagnosed several months ago & my new therapist is helping me take the next steps to get an official diagnosis!! if anyone has tips or words of wisdom for an autism assessment, that would be very helpful (i'm nervous hehe)


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Reply by Ghost_Society

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It was sometime early last year, I was seeing a lot of autistic creators pop up in my feed, and the more they had talked about certain things, the more dots just kind of connected, and then as that went on it was just like something I had always thought was a possibility is true.



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Reply by SPR1NKL3Z DA SC3N3 K1D

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I self-diagnosed this year, I can't remember the specific date though.


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Reply by kola

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first started considering it when i was 18. almost 20 now and ive been to two psychologists now that did not listen or take me seriously, so im still working on an official diagnosis with support from my therapist. 


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Reply by MEW111 (HE/SHE/THEY/IT+NEOS)

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Somewhere within my first few years of life. No clue how.


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Reply by lara

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I was diagnosed with adhd at 8 but at 12 I discovered it was autism and not adhd


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Reply by .+* aurora *+.

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at 13 I was recommended by my gp to seek a diagnosis and I got it at 14 :] pretty quick ik but I always kinda suspected something was up??


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Reply by Markolas+

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I'm 36 as of writing this and didn't get diagnosed (or even self-diagnosed) until last year. Still working through a lot and trying to rebalance life to lead to less shutdowns and non-speaking episodes. 


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Reply by Princey Panic!! ⚣🔪🥩

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just got my professional diagnosis this morning!!


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Reply by eggboy_exe

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Thank you for this post. I'm currently 25 and I've been trying for years to get a formal diagnosis, its extremely hard to come by for adults. I had heard a misconception that if you're not diagnosed by a certain age, it will never happen, but seeing these kinds of stories gives me hope :')


Leroy, he/they


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Reply by william ♡

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i realized something was wrong with me like 3/4-ish years ago, realized it was autism about a year and a half ago :)


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Reply by rainbowz

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formal dx, i wanna say like, 3-5? i am not too sure but it was somewhere around there in kindergarten


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Reply by Anda

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Reply by babybat bell

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Got my formal dx at 18!!! It was p funny actually. all 4 of my psychiatrists at my mental health program took a vote during a conference and it was unanimous. Now it's on paper and I feel amazzzing!


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Reply by Xx_EMILYELECTRICK_xX

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got a formal diagnosis at 13; i'm afab so i was really fucking lucky for this 


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Reply by Xx_EMILYELECTRICK_xX

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got a formal diagnosis at 13; i'm afab so i was really fucking lucky for this 


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Reply by plut0

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i self dx'ed around 4 years ago, and ever since then my mental health has been loads better because i actually know why i feel and act and experience things the way i do. i suspected myself to be autistic/have adhd when i was younger, around the 6th grade, because my closest irl friend (still my closest irl friend) has adhd and told me about their experience with it and such. 


3 years after that they told me more about their experiences with it and how they see a lot of themselves in me with the way i described my experiences with them. and from then that lead me to lots of research, and here i am now!!! :D

i suspect i have both adhd and autism 


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Reply by Ryan A. Gray

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i self-dx i think late last year or early this year. i'm concerned about the repercussions of getting an official diagnosis since i live in the USA and the govt just loves being ableist. i've done all kinds of research and took the raads-r test and various other tests and it's pretty clear (at least to me) that i'm autistic. 


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Reply by Shelby/Sunny/Vincent

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12, I got diagnosed a week before my birthday 


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Reply by violet

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I self diagnosed when I was 14 and got formally diagnosed last year when I was 15


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Reply by TEETH ♱

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Reply by mimosa

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MEDIACALLY DX @ 4/5 YEARS OLD !!! In 2013 !!!


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Reply by 3PSIL0N__

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I thought i had Autism or ADHD when i was 13-14 because quite afew members of my family also have them but I didn't self-diagnose myself until i was 16 (after learning as much as I could about them both)

Turns out I was right LOL! I got my official Autism diagnosis earlier this year!


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Reply by nicolai2

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either between the ages of 2 and 4, i don't remember


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Reply by starboy

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Reply by emmet

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i got mine was i was 3!! i feel really lucky that i got my diagnosis so early


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Reply by Eden

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I self-dx when i was in junior year after about one or two years of research and denial lmao. im currently in senior year so its been a while. When i started telling my friends i got some backlash. people didn't really believe me. the reason i realized i was autistic was when i got in trouble during class cause i was too busy making an alphabetized list of all of my friends instead of school work lmao. thats not the only reason thats just when it kinda clicked for me. 

im currently in therapy to try and figure out if an official diagnosis would be helpful or needed for me. I really want one because im tired of people telling me im not autistic. 


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Reply by DolliBunz

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Im pretty sure I was 8? My brother got diagnosed at 15, then they checked me out straight after :3 (professional diagnosis!! :P)


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Reply by PhoenixHorseGuy

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Short answer: When I was 3. Wasn't told until I was 16.

Long answer: I was born in Upstate New York, lived in Pennsylvania for the first three years of my life. My family moved to a different town in Upstate New York around the time of my third birthday. The doctor took one look at me, went "yup, he's autistic", and got in contact with my future school district to set up special accommodations. Thirteen years later, I'm in a different doctors office and the doctor brought it up not knowing that my parents decided to not tell me I was autistic. So I guess you could say me finding out was a complete accident lmao.


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Reply by CountFagula

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I realized it when I was 23 I think but I’m just currently waiting for a call to get professional dx.


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Reply by travis ★

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uh i forgot how old i'd be but i got dx'ed in 4th grade (im in 11th grade now)


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Reply by Toby

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I started looking into different diagnosis’ around 13 but confirmed it when I was around 15. Then reflected on every single life experience lol. :]


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Reply by cody

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i was diagnosed at 10 yrs old :3!!!


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Reply by meow :3c

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self dxed about 3 years ago,, i was 12 i think (i forgor) but i do remember my friend looking at me after i told her and going "no, youre not, because i said so." shoulda realized she sucked after that :/


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Reply by mai mai mai

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Self diagnosed at 13, got diagnosed at 14 :]


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Reply by Delta

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IIRC, I was diagnosed at the age of 5 or 6. Ever since I was around 4, my parents had a feeling something was different about me, but they didn't think it was autism at first.


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Reply by Samuel

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I was dignosed at 9! Im 14 (almost 15) now :00


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Reply by DIEGO

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i was diagnosed when i was 10, but only because my parents were researching 4 my brother (i am afab)


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Reply by ollie

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I wasn't diagnosed until I was 21 I believe, as autism in women can be so overlooked and the criteria is mostly based on men. Getting the diagnosis feels so freeing as I always felt like I was different growing up and I never knew why - now I've got my answer and know there's nothing wring with me! :D


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Reply by Marissa <3

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They had believe I had it around 12 but couldn’t diagnose me due to my other diagnosed disorders some complications due to possibility of “over diagnosis” not quite sure if I have autism but I share many traits <3


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Reply by ˗ˏˋ leo ˎˊ˗

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i was diagnosed sometime during the beginning pandemic/covid so 12-13


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