What made you realise you have/might have autism?

I had a slight hint about a decade ago because I was really having difficulty dealing with people.

But I shrugged it off, feeling a little better, and I didn't think about it again.

Then, about 5 years ago, I was beginning to feel very burnt out and irritable and was looking to change career, or just looking for something to change.

A colleague had been observing me for about a year and they said.

"I've been watching you all this time and I've noticed you don't read body language at all well. You don't notice when people are tired, bored, or upset. You interrupt and talk over people. You get moody about the smallest things. You're definitely autistic, maybe you should look into it"

My response was to chuckle, yeah maybe.

A while later, I finally realised/accepted that something was going on, so I went to my GP and 'demanded' a referral.

I suppose one sign was that I took a carrier bag of printouts, surveys, anecdotes to the surgery. They fortunately had no reservations about referring me.

As a child, I always had the loner/outsider thing. I often felt I was living in a movie and that people were merely interesting entities to observe and try to understand. There was a distinct sense of separateness.

Somehow, it all seemed to go unnoticed for nearly 5 decades...

I had a slight hint about a decade ago because I was really having difficulty dealing with people.

But I shrugged it off, feeling a little better, and I didn't think about it again.

Then, about 5 years ago, I was beginning to feel very burnt out and irritable and was looking to change career, or just looking for something to change.

A colleague had been observing me for about a year and they said.

"I've been watching you all this time and I've noticed you don't read body language at all well. You don't notice when people are tired, bored, or upset. You interrupt and talk over people. You get moody about the smallest things. You're definitely autistic, maybe you should look into it"

My response was to chuckle, yeah maybe.

A while later, I finally realised/accepted that something was going on, so I went to my GP and 'demanded' a referral.

I suppose one sign was that I took a carrier bag of printouts, surveys, anecdotes to the surgery. They fortunately had no reservations about referring me.

As a child, I always had the loner/outsider thing. I often felt I was living in a movie and that people were merely interesting entities to observe and try to understand. There was a distinct sense of separateness.

Somehow, it all seemed to go unnoticed for nearly 5 decades...

Did you get diagnosed in the finish exist?

very much like my life's story, I noticed, that I do not fit anywhere for the first time during 3rd year of primary, so at age of 10. The feeling of longing for someone like me accompanied me ever since, until discovery of this forum.

I interject alot of my humor, so as to cloud people's perception of all those things I do because I do not notice when to stop, plus it makes life a bit more endurable.

''Enjoy the little things'' rule number 47 in Zombie Survival guide :P