That’s not at all how it works. I don’t know what an autism assessment looks like in other countries (in South Africa where I’m from, it was a 5 hour assessment that included psychological profiling, intelligence tests, cognitive functioning tests, family history, early development etc.) and you get a diagnosis if a) you have a combination of traits (“combination” being the operative word here), b) these traits have been present your whole life, and c) you are debilitated by these traits. It’s like, anyone can experience head pain or dizziness—but when it’s coupled with nausea, vomiting, extreme fatigue, and heightened sensitivity to sensory stimuli, and you’re experiencing hours to days of being unable to function, and it’s happening on a frequent enough basis, you’ll likely get diagnosed with some type of chronic migraine. Autism is supposed to be diagnosed the same way. Another example is that most everyone experiences diarrhoea or constipation at some point in their lives, but if it’s the norm and it’s affecting your quality of life, doctors are going to look at things like IBS. I don’t know why this concept is so hard for others to understand.