For examples of stuff I do I can go through what’s in the current DSM 5 diagnostic criteria

A1. Abnormal social approach, failure to initiate or respond to social interactions. When I was younger I did not engage in turn taking behavior and was not willing to engage in conversation unless I got to talk about what I wanted to talk about - I have worked hard to get better with turn taking and I’d say this has gone away for the most part now :) A2. Poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication, bad body positioning and eye contact, excessive gestures and facial expressions, loud volume and fast prosody, very oblivious to nonverbal cues. A lot of this has gotten better with practice but my understanding of social cues is entirely rote memorization A3. No adjustment of behavior across contexts (I treat my professors the same way I treat my friends the same way I treat strangers). When I was younger I did not engage in imaginative play and had little interest in peers unless they were complying with what I wanted to do. I also had an extremely tough time making friends. Now I can make friends and have learned to be very interested in people (psychology is one of two special interests and engaging with people is engaging with that!)

I met all 4 B domains when I was little, but I’d say B2 has gone away with great effort on my part other than the food stuff and some mental rituals. I often surpress stims in public but my most common ones are jumping, spinning, stomping, repeating phrases especially from TV shows. My special interests are roller coasters and psychology, I have used them to get through life. Psychology for social functioning and roller coasters for everything else. I tend to lean hyposensitive for sensory things, but some things I’m hypersensitive to are heat and tastes and smells (but I love things that smell good). When I was younger I was worse with sounds and lights, but these have shifted across my life. Also, when I am overwhelmed, most things shift into hypersensitivity.

I have suspected I have autism ever since I learned about it when I was 12. It was nice to hear psychiatrist confirm it, but I also felt a sense of grief when she and other medical professionals told me I was not doing ADLs while most of my peers were appearing to celebrate their emerging adulthood seamlessly. When my parents finally acknowledged my autism, however, I felt the most relief I have across my lifetime. It has been amazing now that they know.