Realizing I Might Be Autistic: What's Next?

Don't stress. If you do get diagnosed, it doesn't change who you are. Don't tell anyone you don't trust to know and you'll be okay. Just because of the label doesn't mean you're worth any less.

if you want a formal diagnosis, next step is a neuropsych eval probably. good luck booking one!💕

When I was a kid, the only friends I had were other autistic kids or kids who had autistic siblings. I had this lady who would take me out of class all the time, and my mom never told me why. I went to speech therapy. I had meltdowns. I was told I "march to the beat of my own drum." I never connected the pieces until like a year or so ago. I started noticing things around seventh grade, but I kept quiet. And in 8th grade, my sister told me she thought I was autistic and so did my mom. I went to the doctor a few weeks later, but the doctor completely dismissed me because "If you were autistic you wouldve been diagnosed years ago." Since then, I've done tons of research. My boyfriend and my bestfriend both have autistic brothers and they were the first ones outside of my family to say something to me about it. Now I'm 18, and I'm like 99% sure that im autistic, but I feel i have to get diagnosed to say it. I'm living in this limbo, i just want to understand why I am the way i am.