I knew I was different for a long time--I was interested in "bookish" things like the space program and military aviation, when the kids in my school, at least in junior high, were into rock music, dancing, etc. By the time high school rolled around, if I didn't know something was different about me then, I certainly learned it quickly. Again, my interests (space, military aviation, and by now current events/politics) were wayoutside the "norm" for people my age. I grew up hearing "he's...special" a lot, but to me, "special" meant "different," and for a long time, I refused to accept it. Finally, I just determined that something was different about the way my head was wired (which I already knew it was.)
When I received my diagnosis in '09, everything suddenly made sense to me--my obsessions with certain things (and people) suddenly had a reason, rather than just having been the random ravings of a disturbed mind. A classmate of mine, who has a son who received the same diagnosis that I did, of PDD-NOS, said that when her son received his diagnosis, she thought of me. When I asked her why, she said it was because of the way I behaved in school...being "overstimulated," as she very kindly put it...then she said, "I didn't get it then, but I do now." That made me want to cry, because I always felt like nobody understood what I had dealt with as a kid.