I am not 40 (35 years), but I still wanted to reply since I was diagnosed in adulthood. Why? Asperger's Syndrome wasn't known when I was a young child. I also grew up in a small remote community in northern Canada, where medical care was limited.

My mother always knew I was different. She often wondered about my unique development, but felt my delays were most likely due to my brother, who is 15 months younger.

I always wondered about my oddities and social difficulties. A few years ago, I started reading about highly sensitive people. It was during this reading, I discovered Asperger's Syndrome. I immediately knew I had it. Soon afterwards, I discovered others suspected it. My mother urged me to get assessed so I requested an appointment with a psychiatrist, who diagnosed it.

The official diagnosis wasn't a huge surprise to me. Autism came up many times, when I was using psychiatric services during my adolescence for adjustment problems. No one seemed interested in exploring it, because of my sex (female) and I wasn't "hiding out in my mom's basement in front of a computer." In the 1990s, Asperger's Syndrome was mainly diagnosed in males.

I was diagnosed with a myriad of psychiatric disorders that did not describe my situation, very well.

The diagnosis has helped me heal, and fully accept and understand myself. If this is what you are after, it is worth getting assessed.

There are psychologists and psychiatrists who diagnose adults.