I think I'm autistic

[toepick]

I have always felt different my whole life
Middle aged now

I just don't get people sometimes and constantly think about how people are fake, duplicitous etc
For me you are loyal or you're not.

I love my dog far more than most people
Think I've masked it well
Some social interactions e.g ones that aren't meaningful and deep are literally painful to me

I hate brightness and am most happy in a dark room with my dog reading a book
I am obsessive about any hobby I pursue

well, I like my own company, and my hobbies and my cats, and I am not autistic

I’m autistic, if it’s something you want to know for sure and pursue, there are quite long waitlists (and I think in some places they don’t deal with adults) but private is an option too.

I'm autistic, I was diagnosed privately at the Lorna Wing Centre. If you have a spare £2k I'd recommend finding out. Just knowing for sure is life changing.

I was diagnosed earlier this year and paid for a private assessment. I did a lot of research on it so knew that I almost certainly was before paying out. There is a website called embrace autism with lots of useful assessment tools which can act as an indication as to whether it’s worth pursuing.

Jumping on thread sorry - is it possible to get an assessment if you don't have another person who can recall your early childhood?

I had an assessment with no early childhood reports. I didn't live with my mum as a child and my dad lives on a boat with no postal address. Some people's parents have died, but they can still have an assessment.

@Icepearl how lovely for you! The op thinks they are autistic though and is looking for advice on this.

@OneRingToRuleThemAll Thank you, much appreciated.