For many autistic adults, the realization doesn't begin with a diagnosis.

It begins with a sentence.

"I thought everyone felt this way."

Maybe you stumble across a social media post about autism. Maybe a friend gets diagnosed. Maybe your therapist asks a question you've never considered before.

Suddenly, experiences you've had your entire life start to make sense.

The exhaustion after social events. The need for routines. The overwhelm when plans change. The feeling that everyone else seems to understand unspoken rules that you somehow missed.

Many of the late-diagnosed autistic adults I work with don't come to therapy wondering if they're autistic.

They come in saying things like:

"I've always been shy."

"People just exhaust me."

"I need a lot of alone time."

"I've always felt different."

"I'm just introverted."

And sometimes those statements are true.

Sometimes they're also incomplete.