I have been speaking to a counselor at university and, one day, something I said prompted her to suggest I look into Asperger's-or what is now referred to as "high-functioning autism". I suppose I'm conflicted. When first I read about autism (it's a very interesting topic) I found myself able to relate quite a lot with what I was reading. I was suspicious, but ultimately decided I must be oversimplifying. Time passed, and relatives showed concern that I may have Asperger's, but that was due to them misidentifying my tics as "stims". And then came the conversation with the counselor. There are certain things that make it difficult to brush the possibility aside, as I would be able to do with a suggestion of schizophrenia, for instance. The list is rather long and so I won't write them here. If asked, I will indeed.
To get to the point, my question is addressed to those who were diagnosed in teenhood or adulthood and is as follows:
What prompted the diagnosis and why did it come so late?