You may just be masking less and coming into accepting it more?

Sometimes I find my symptoms can fluctuate the more I have accepted my autism personally.

Sometimes people change and traits change just like with neurotypicals and also people learn to unmask sometimes without knowing it, but traits aren’t really symptoms because they aren’t a negative thing. There’s nothing wrong with autistic traits, they just make it a lot harder to live in a neurotypical world so it might help to learn how to accept your neurotype and figure out how to use it to your strengths as much as you can

personally, lockdown caused me to unmask quite a bit.

Asperger's under the DSM 5 is now ASD level 1, so I wouldn't be surprised, the problem with some of these diagnoses is that they tend to diagnose based on your best or your mask and not at your worst. Fluctuations are completely normal, additionally as I have unmasked and accepted myself more, my traits are more prevalent. (Also no hate, idk if you know but Hand Asperger's was a N*zi)

My asd traits were exacerbated by living in residential treatment designed for nt's. Have you been through any tough/traumatic experiences or big changes? Well, COVID lockdown probably counts for all of us...

I tell myself it’s cuz my brain grows as I get older, making more room for being neurodivergent, but my dad says it’s cuz I’m paying more attention to it.