Have had a late life diagnosis this year with the ball set rolling towards it two years back. My dad had already passed away by then but when I went for the initial testing, my mum was asked to come along to fill in the blanks of my childhood that I wouldn't remember.

Transpired that I had been referred to ed-psychs while in nursery, primary and middle school... but it never got followed up as we moved house a lot and my dad being the more vocal of the two refused to acknowledge that I was anything but normal.

Has been a double edged sword... on the one hand I think it actually did me some good not having the diagnosis as a child... kept me out of special school (which had been on the cards several times) and I eventually went to University and got my degree. I had to essentially condition myself to act (and it was acting in hindsight) as normal as possible... learning the hard way, how to behave 'appropriately' and filter what I said before I said it.

On the negative side, I have dealt with depression and anxiety most of my life (and gone through 4 inpatient visits) with frequent overwhelm/shut down episodes. I 'suspected' that there was something more than just the depression and anxiety at work... but I would never have guessed I had an ASD.

My mum went through a lot of guilt when it was determined that I had the disorder as I guess she ascertained that a lot of grief would have been spared had it been investigated properly before... but I don't hold either of them accountable... just one of those things and I can appreciate that no parent would want their child to have something wrong with them.

Out of curiosity, what research are you basing that assertion on? I am new to the diagnosis, but from my limited understanding, there are neurological differences between those who are neurotypical and those with autism/aspergers.