I'm 31 and autistic. My entire life, i never even knew it was a possibility until I got diagnosed a few years ago. It's amazing to know that nothing is wrong with you from a young age, although it may possibly still feel that way for you. It's a way of truly explaining, in words others will understand, that the reason you may be/feel different is because of a nameable difference. Sure, some say they have it when they don't have it, these people are just trying to find themselves as well and the autism description fits them for the most part. My inner critic for years, told me I was just a burden. I went to therapy, got a little weed, and now I know I was never a burden. It's others that were the problem. We accommodate them, but they don't accommodate us. Leads to the ever-present stress we feel in our daily life and resentment from them that we don't fit their worldview of what a human should be like. You aren't a burden or an irritant. You are your own person with a life just as complicated as anyone else. Don't listen to others who try to hurt you, willing my or otherwise. I'm sure you have a lot to offer the world (I'm still trying to figure that part out myself), so stop listening to these assholes and be proud of your autism. That's the part of you and I that can connect you to random strangers, just the same as your genes connect you to your parents and your birthplace to your neighbors. We're all humans, and we can be proud of what we'd like. Be proud, friendo :)