Didn't expect one of my closest friends to tell me he thinks the late-diagnosing of autism thing is pure crap. How do I bounce back from this invalidation? Do I even need to defend myself here? How would you react? I haven't responded yet. Funny how you'd think someone would be understanding but they aren't.
@JustPassingThrough
This is so hard! I'm so sorry. Depending on your relationship and how much you value it, you could try explaining how self-diagnosing yourself as autistic isn't like diagnosing yourself with an actual medical condition. I've hopefully linked a resource gathered by the most excellent @alice that may help you to do this. But, otherwise, or if this doesn't work, it's perhaps time to reconsider the relationship. Negativity like that, is not helpful. It's hard enough coming to terms with realising something like this and dealing with the trauma of it and that resurfaces because of it, without something like this.
@pathfinder@alice Thank you. I didn't get a formal paper but a friend in the industry gave me an informal evaluation. I'm not sure I want an official diagnosis, as in some countries it can close more doors than it can open.