I get officially diagnosed and joined wrong planet. I view that day as a second birthday and in some ways more important than the date of my actual birth. Below is the story of the day of my diagnosis and its aftermath I first wrote two years ago with a few alterations.
I was diagnosed with moderately severe Aspergers under the DSM IV and Autism Spectrum Disorder under the DSM 5. I was not given a level. The DSM 5 was brand new, controversial, and we had no idea how it was all going to play out thus my clinician hedged her bets and diagnosed me under both manuals. She not only diagnosed me but said she had no problems doing so which helped me avoid the imposter syndrome that so many autistics go through post diagnosis.
Before I describe my reaction people have a wide variety of reactions to being diagnosed formally or self. All are valid. The last thing I want is that you should feel bad or further an outlier because your reaction was different then mine.
When she formally diagnosed me I did not immediately feel anything. It hit me as soon as I walked out the door and into the streets of New York City. I felt like screaming “I’m an Aspie”, “I’m an Aspie”. Somehow I was able to keep myself from sounding like another lunatic on streets of New York City(LOL). But everything people talk about when first diagnosed, the relief, the looking back at ones life through a different and more forgiving lens and so on I went through. That evening after a couple of weeks of lurking I joined Wrong Planet.
The knowledge of Autism and the people here were never more important to me then 2 years later when I had some serious health issues. First it was a mild stroke, then was tongue cancer that necessitated replacing half of my tongue. Then a few months later the cancer came back and I had to do it all over again. For over a year I was non speaking. It was the worse thing for an autistic person sudden radical change in lifestyle, necessary but unplanned interruptions, sensory hell. But because of the knowledge my diagnosis gave me I figured techniques to make it less bad, whenever I could dive into special interests, Autism and Wrong Planet being prominent. Without the knowledge from the diagnosis and the people here I would not have survived that ordeal mentally and probably physically.
Privilege is a highly used and controversial word these days but in many ways I am privileged. I am privileged in that unlike previous generations the knowledge of ASD for people in my part of the spectrum and my age exists. Those autistics that came before me and many in my generation will go through their whole lives not knowing an important part of who they are. Many of my autistic peers were institutionalized or had parents who tried to beat the autistic traits out of them. Very grateful not to have had to deal with that. In the wake of the cancers I am privileged to be here at all. That is not just my opinion but the opinion of the oncologist who did the surgeries on me.
I want to again than Alex Plank and Dan Glover for creating this site and Alex for all his autism advocacy over the years.
I want to thank all the new members for bringing new life and new perspectives to wrong planet.
I want thank Cornflake who calmly guided the membership through the denial of service attack. Unfortunately that would not be the worst thing he would guide us through.
On this day I can not help but think of The Walrus.
On this day I am thinking of Isabella Linton who is dealing with the worst type of personal tragedy imaginable. She had an outsized role in making WP as a less toxic place. I hope somehow she is beginning to find inner peace.
Thank you all active or inactive who made and continue make WP the community it is.
_________________
“Self Acceptance is a process not a performance”
“You are autistic enough. And you always have been”
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.
26 Aug 2025, 9:58 am
