Can't remember if I've posted in here before?
I was diagnosed at 5/6. The advantage of early diagnosis is of course that you know what's wrong and people "work around" it. But the main negative for me is that I've found over the years I've perhaps used AS as an excuse (maybe somewhat unintentionally) in order to avoid situations and predicaments I've found difficult. In other words I think there have been many occasions where I have failed to fix some issue with my personality or my behaviour because it's "probably to do with AS, and thus unavoidable" when it could easily be entirely independent of my AS. Know what I mean?
Anyway, I don't like having AS. I notice some people seem to take a lot of positives from it, but I guess after all these years I'm just aching for some social interaction that I've lacked my whole life. Some proper friends, and damn it even a girlfriend haha.
I only have a very mild form of the condition which means I essentially get the worst from both worlds. I completely lack social skills (but not so people recognise, or believe, that I have AS; they just think I'm aloof and rude) but don't have intelligence that so many with AS are gifted with instead. Sometimes I'm not sure if I ever had AS at all, but that my early diagnosis and a life revolving around it has just put me into some sort of psychological mindset that I have it, if that makes sense. :s