New to this place!

Hi my name's Olive and I'm 18! I'm a little nervous to be joining this community as I've never really had a support network for my autism but I hope this will help me feel more welcomed and more, if anything, normal. I think interacting with people like me will be good for me as it will help me feel less alone, which I always have been when it comes to understanding my autism.

I am yet undiagnosed, but as I recently turned 18 and am seeking an adult diagnosis. My journey in discovering my autism is a long one and has been since I was a baby and only in recent years have I been comfortable accepting myself as autistic and talking about my autism to others, although still it makes me nervous. As a teenage girl living in this generation where there is a lot of stigma around mental disorders it's very easy for someone to accuse me of lying and whilst many have supported me, others haven't.

I hope there are other people in this community who can relate to my experience and accept me.