To undiagnosed adults or those diagnosed in adulthood: How did you realize you might be autistic?

Through catastrophic breakdowns (= autistic burnouts or catatonia) in a number of close relatives.  It took me ages to join the dots and realise that there was something familial going on and, by the time I did, lots of needless damage had occurred.  Only after several decades of such things did any MH professional utter the word "autism" and I still find it hard to understand how we flew beneath the radar for so long, often getting blamed or marginalised for our differences.  :(

Through catastrophic breakdowns (= autistic burnouts or catatonia) in a number of close relatives.  It took me ages to join the dots and realise that there was something familial going on and, by the time I did, lots of needless damage had occurred.  Only after several decades of such things did any MH professional utter the word "autism" and I still find it hard to understand how we flew beneath the radar for so long, often getting blamed or marginalised for our differences.  :(