Also, Self Diagnosis is very openly accepted in the Autistic community. There are many reasons why people don’t have access to a diagnosis. Me for example. I’m living paycheck to paycheck. However I have done years of research and talked to others in the community about my experience and it lines up. When I have access I’ll get an official diagnosis, but I don’t need one to know I’m autistic. That’s just my take on things. Also this is not intended to be hateful I just subscribed!

Also, I have severe food aversions due to my autism! As a child I often had meltdowns when I was forced to eat food that I didn’t like. I have eaten a PBandJ almost every day of my life since I was three because it’s a safe food for me. I almost always need to alter food when I order it from a restaurant, and I bring my own food to potlucks and gatherings. I am vegetarian because any meat gives me the heebie-jeebies. I’ve been told my whole life I was picky, and because people don’t understand it I have a lot of internalized shame around food. Learning about food aversions was actually my first step towards self-diagnosis ❤

I can relate to you a LOT. It took me four assessments to get diagnosed, hopefully it's easier for you. The final person to do it was a private psychologist who specialized in autism. Self-diagnosis is what lead me to finally get diagnosed. Idk why they missed it as a kid, but oh well. Lol. I was diagnosed at 21, fairly recently. My autistic traits were both obvious and not obvious as a kid. I refused to make eye contact most of the time and would sometimes face away during an assessment. They literally diagnosed me with a receptive language disorder haha. But I also had a lot more friends back then, and they deemed me "too empathetic." They diagnosed me with ADHD before autism. My intense interests and friendship issues became more obvious with age. Now I barely have any friends I regularly hang out with, which sucks. There was one point where ALL I could talk about was superheroes. I was obsessed and I didn't have much interest in anything else. I think this lasted much longer than a hyper fixation. I have now moved onto horror. It's what I watch almost all the time, talk about, etc. I have a lot of food aversions. I can't be near pickles, mustard, mayo, etc. It makes me freak out. I eat most things plain with just meat and cheese. My family doesn't get it at all lol. Best of luck to you on your journey.

The book thing is super relatable, for me it’s Percy Jackson. Every time a new book comes out, if I’m not reading it I’m talking about it

This entire video was incredibly relatable to me, especially when it came to sensory sensitivities and intense interests. Although you have sensitivities to light and temperature, I have sensitivities to noise and texture. I often listen to the same songs/artists on repeat for weeks at a time. I remember an instance where I was on a 2 week trip and I listened to this one death metal band every single day for the entire 2 weeks.

Ketchup thing! Same!

Love your video, I think it's a great window into the adult self-realization journey for those of us who present in less "textbook" ways. That said, you should reconsider your stance on self-disgnosis (or more accurately self-realization) when it comes to autism. I initially also had a distrust toward self-diagnosis (is self-gaslighting an autistic trait? Oops.) but came around on this after seeing some compelling arguments from other community members. Others can enumerate the reasons better than me, but some of the primary ones are (1) pricey formal evals, (2) gatekeeping from adults who have less obvious traits, (3) ramifications of a formal diagnosis on travel in certain countries or ability to adopt, and (4) the fact that an adult autism diagnosis often does not come with many tangible formal supports/resources and is mainly about self-understanding and finding community.

Omg I love love love! This video. I've been getting more confident lately. I'm trying to get my view positively on life, and I can already feel the after effects. I'm much happier. There is however the fact that I'm autistic and I want a paid job. I've been volunteering for a long time, and I do get an income because I am autistic. However, I want to be valuable in a payfull manner to the community. At the same time I'm very insecure job wise, as I'm already 32 and I don't really have an interest to go on. Do you feel like you have any tips for me (or anyone for that matter)? I do finally realise that my autism diagnosis is correct. But despite that I have been practicing social conversations and because I have a big confidence boost believing in myself now, I can actually interact. Before that I looked down, not looking at people's faces. I'm only partually autistic I think though: a big part is trauma from bullying and people approaching me negatively since early childhood. No friends. things like that. But at some point you have to not give a fk and be who you are. People already see you as nothing. So you can only become something at that point. I open my mouth now - they are going to have to live with neurodivergent me because I deserve as much of the world as they do. BUT - I refrain from getting angry. Because I love myself too much to make myself feel such a negative emotion. I'd rather forgive others. The biggest part that helped me and my autism? Believing in myself. How? Starting to love myself. Starting to forgive myself and others. After all the hatred that people gave me. And in return, you will love the world. Because once you love yourself... it's the most powerful thing of all.

Can you add the link to the text that you mentioned?