my therapist did the same i felt like im being heard a long with my family saying if I came to the US sooner I would've been diagnosed with it because my sister who is autistic has all the symptoms i did when i was younger and yeah some I outgrew but others I still struggle with Im really nervous because I finally have an appointment Nov 14 and they said it would take 5 hours which im nervous since all those noticeable issues was when I was around 4-5 and I'm 17 now and im scared that it comes back no and that im just making it up idk I have really bad overthinking

Yes!! My friends and family haven't laughed, instead most get concerned and say "no, no you're definitely not. Why would you say that about yourself?" As if I just insulted myself by saying I finally understand why I've always felt some form of "different" 🤦🏻‍♀️ so mostly I keep it to myself now...I get a lot of hype from the friends I have who have a formal diagnosis 🖤 I've never felt so at home in my body, brain, and experience being able to draw parallels between being on the spectrum and the shitty ways I found to hide it. Which is also a fun component to people I try to tell assuring me I am not -- like, yes, I have tried VERY HARD to not present as autistic to you. Glad it worked? And that's EXACTLY what I'm trying to tell you. I may seem "normal" to you, but it takes so much damn effort. My internal experience is what's different.