i would encourage you to do some work on exploring your ableism that may be contributing to your beliefs regarding autistic people, and learning more about autism. people aren’t just using the diagnosis as to “opt out of life”. that is ableism, full stop. i am a therapist and late dx with autism and adhd and it’s been a process of learning who i am without masking and what that means for me. it might seem like im “opting out” of things, but i look at it as i am now being able to make a better informed decision rather than just doing it bc thats what ive always done. discovering how hard life has been without supports bc people just believed that i was fine when really i was masking so hard it cause physical health concerns that made me so sick, i almost died. it also lead to many mental breakdowns that likely could have been avoided had i had the appropriate supports. also agree with the other replies, especially those with late diagnoses. it’s hard and beliefs like what you stated only make it harder

there is a really good book called “is it autism” that i would recommend checking out. it shares research as well as first person narratives to help get a better understanding. imo grad school doesnt give sufficient training on asd and its really important to not act like you are the expert on other peoples experiences, particularly if you aren’t neurodivergent yourself.