The Day I Found Out Nothing Was ‘Wrong’ With Me

For most of my life, I’ve thought something must be “wrong” with me. I was fortunate enough to be formally diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder about a year ago. It’s something that was talked about when I was a child, and that I’d considered as an adult, but a formal diagnosis seemed to snap everything in to place. The puzzle was solved. I even celebrated.

Nothing was or is “wrong” with me. I’m simply a less common neurotype. Awesome. I started to make new autistic friends, relate to others more easily, make my own sensory toys, and more. I couldn’t thank my therapy team enough for finally solving this mystery. I can only laugh now, thinking about all the things I thought might have been wrong with me. Not that any of them were truly funny.

Some people may consider an autism diagnosis a bad thing. If that is you or a loved one, I encourage you to seek the positives about being autistic and try to make new friends, even if only online. It has had a huge impact on my self-esteem. My therapist reminds me of how much it’s increasing. Speaking of therapists, I also recommend you find a brilliant one. I’ve seen many and finally found the one for me. And I don’t have to pay top dollar to see him — he’s at my local mental health clinic. I see autism as something to learn to accept if you don’t, and hopefully learn to be proud about! Good luck to you!

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