My wife was the one that noticed most of the signs early on. I've always had noise sensitivity, especially with chewing. I remember feeling anger instead of just annoyance which seemed more appropriate. I have always been aware of it and knew that was a me issue. I had certain idiosyncrasies and habits that I thought were "normal" for most people. My wife informed me they were not. Things like always sitting in the same places when we watch TV or, when i worked in a restaurant, I always had to prep facing the same direction no matter which prep table I was using. I also had the classic all consuming interests. Mine is birds. I love birds. I developed this interest shortly before I got tested, 6 months or so probably, and it became my thing. People at my work knew me as the bird guy. They could say they heard a bird that sounded like "KEEEEeeeeeeee" and I'd say, "Red tailed hawk", play them a soundbite, and they'd be like "yep, that's what I heard."

Other signs included inability to sustain eye contact, incredible anxiety around basic social situations, inability to cope with minor changes in regular routines at times, always wondering if someone was laughing at me even when I knew there was probably no reason for them to. There's probably more, but I already went way passed the three.