He’s a Swiss white shepherd

His name is Sam and reminds me of the lion from the wizard of Oz sometimes 😊

I was married in October 2014, separated in August 2015 and divorced January 2016 haha! The rest does not correlate but Jezus why do we do this to ourselves?! It’s like our need to be normal is so all-encompassing that we need to check all the boxes…

The process of being diagnosed was quite quick. I think I was lucky though.

I live in Belgium, and the diagnosis was done by an independent clinical psychologist. It’s not recognized by the government, so I cannot be request a full refund of costs nor can I request to be classified as a person with a handicap, but I don’t feel that this is necessary for myself. I work, in IT, for a very nice non-profit and I love all the people I work with, from colleagues to management. I’ve been struggling with autistic burnout since January (well, probably way before that but masking…) And they have been so understanding and nice. I wish everyone would have my employer honestly. Where are you located?

I was this years old 😅 meaning 34. I was diagnosed officially in March of 2023 after being self-diagnosed for about 3.5 years before that. Never suspected I was autistic beforehand much the same as you. I just knew I was weird, felt stuck between pleasing people (and thus trying to be neurotypical and failing) and trying to be myself. I’m still not there yet but knowing about other women experiencing a lot of the same “milestones” in life has helped me. Aspects of your story match mine to a T, including the part about rambling, haha. I’m very happy with communities like these where we can share and not feel lonely so often. Being alone can be a choice, but feeling lonely, especially when surrounded by people who, seemingly or not, “fit in” is so so so detrimental to my mental health. I don’t know what’s worse sometimes: receiving compliments for being “so well-adjusted” and “so well-behaved” versus being stuck in my own head overanalyzing every little thing I do and say and never feeling like I did well or like I behaved like a “good human being” /End ramble ;-)