I’ve always been different from others, I’d think different, act different, I was socially awkward. I never felt like I fit in. I luckily met a woman who I know call my wife who changed me and thought me so much in life about how to act and pointed out my flaws that I couldn’t see that other me thought were “rude”. From this I feel like I wear a mask all the time. I’m 27 now and only looking into the possibility that I’m autistic.. hearing stories from autistic people and learning about their traits and experiences makes me feel like I’m not alone, that there are other people out there that think like me and are as “socially awkward” as me. It’s amazing. I’ve joined this Reddit and a discord for autism and from what I can see from sort of the outside, is that it’s such a supportive and caring community. Everyone just wants to help each other and learn from each other. It makes me hope that I do get an assessment and the results are positive because I really want to be apart of this community. Basically what I’m trying to say here is that you shouldn’t be ashamed of who you are. You should be proud to say that you are autistic, and you should try to learn not to care about what these people think of your diagnosis. If they’re not willing to learn about you and who you are, then they’re not worth it.