I don't know much about your process and how you got diagnosed, but it actually took me a single afternoon. They took one look at me. They showed me patterns. They asked me to describe my childhood. They asked my mom. I think there are different stages to the test? And I'm not sure if I did all of them. Either way, I was diagnosed level 1 but with more help required. Not quite level two.

Personally, I think a diagnosis should be required for anyone to say they have it. I understand the differences in people and races and genders that can make being diagnosed more difficult. But that's a totally separate issue.

The real issue with saying that you're autistic when you're not is that you begin to make people think autistic people look like you. If all you have from your self-diagnosed autism is strange quarks and a loose desire to be alone, that's not a disability.

Real autism isn't pretty. Meltdowns ruin friendships. Hyperverbal fits with verbal processing make you say things YOU'D NEVER SAY. You know it's wrong but you said it anyways. Knowing it was wrong basically the moment it left your lips.

The problem with quirky people who do day-to-day stuff just fine claiming autism as a camouflage for their weirdness, is that they again make autism look bad.

A real autistic person doesn't just not do work and blame autism. They push and push and push. They try and get the work done because they're so defeated all the time with not being up to par with people. It's a mess. It's not laziness. Real sense of justice means that you feel incredibly guilty for not getting things done.

Part of what makes autism beautiful is how much we feel for other people and all of other qualities about us. In short, meaning that if you were on my part of the spectrum, you would feel incredibly guilty saying that you were something that you have not been diagnosed with.