I self diagnosed with Asperger's one year before any suspicions, then I was sent by a doc to the waiting list for the proper testing which took 1.5 year. So I knew 2.5 years before my formal DX. Even before I had some thoughts about it but back then I did not think I would reach up to a DX which actually might have been true at that time.

I am normal. This is my normal. I'm sorry if someone finds that bothersome. I'm just another type of human being and I don't fit well into society, still I am pretty sure aspies do play a part even if it is rarely in the spotlight.

I listen to people's problems and I do care and moreso I try very hard not to think they feel what I do. I try to genuinely understand what they think or feel based on their experiences, not mine. So I do take offense when people say I do not relate to their emotions.

I also have tics and OCD with my Asperger's. It's actually not uncommon. I can tell OCD from my aspieness quite easily though. I can get upset because my planning is disturbed, but this is not OCD, it is something I wanted to do and planned to do. In the absence of a plan we might be upset. Because we lost what we wanted AND we feel destabilized by the now uncertainty. OCD is more something coming from what we don't want. I don't want to feel bad stepping on a crack. I can't help feeling bad. I know I should not feel bad. Still I do. The aspieness is there to help, even in a sometimes clumsy way, OCD is never helpful, it is always in the way and unwanted.

Where I live it is very important to be diagnosed because it opens up to much better help than just psychiatric. But all countries are different and some places a diagnosis might help much less.