How did you discover your Autism diagnosis?

Too many of my friends are autistic and they started calling me autistic 🥴 but fr when I made a friend over tiktok and found out they were autistic, I was like “damn it’s like two of every three new friends I make are autistic” and they were basically like, “no u” 🤣 I came across the Embrace Autism website and I found it really helpful in understanding what ways autism shows up for me. I’ve been writing off a LOT of things as “normal” that are, in fact, not normal.

It took some self reflection in adulthood as a lot of people in my life chalked things up to me being 'weird' or 'mean' or just bad at social situations including the adults. I think this is in part to how autism is portrayed as a boy thing. Once I became an adult and learned more about autism through my friends who were AFAB and autistic and online, I realized that I may be autistic. That being said it still took me until a therapist just out of the blue went "hey have you ever looked into autism? What you're describing sounds like autism." Did I finally accept that it wasn't just in my head.

I questioned it my entire life and I didn't know until I graduated highschool that I was actually diagnosed with autism AND adhd in elementary school

Autism was never on my radar simply because I had been given the same awful education that most other people have. For me, after years of trying to understand myself and others, multiple therapists and psychiatrists and years of needless suffering, it was almost the last possibly in the barrel. I had considered countless possibilities for why I am the way I am and that dedication eventually led to me considering autism. To my suprise, the shoe fit. A few months later I was diagnosed. It's been 2 years since then and I'm relieved to know, despite everything.