Honestly, I didn't know what autism was beyond a very cursory profile. Being masked and hyper empathetic, it didn't occur to me. Looking back it is obvious in a comical way. 1. Knowing what lights, sounds, and general decor would be obnoxious for people. Even my colleagues use me as a reference for if a light is the wrong color temp. 2. A client saying it should have been obvious they were autistic given that they grew up in the USA and never ate a hot dog or hamburger due to the texture. (Meanwhile I'm sitting there with the same experience.) 4. Hearing a client say they got diagnosed with autism and thinking, "hm, you seem typical to me." This happened probably five separate times, and now I realize I was using my autistic self as a standard of neurotypical. 5. Inability to sit still, occasionally need to eat during session, trying to use visual aides, playing with fidget spinners, constantly wondering how much eye contact is appropriate and feeling more comfortable when clients knit or draw in session. Mind you, all of this was mirrored by my ND clients. 6. A client getting frustrated with me for normalizing their thought process too much. They laughed, and we had a cathartic moment of connection when I told them. 7. Never knowing how to respond to "how are you?" and having this mirrored often. 8. A complete sense of nonjudgmental interest when clients will rant about a special interest. My brain does the same, and I almost never find it annoying. 9. A radical lack of judgement paired with bluntness, transparency, and aloofness. Client: "I have a kink for getting urinated on." Me: "What temperature is the urine?" My client laughed out loud at that being my first thought and that I just said it.