Same, -ish. I do wish I had this knowledge early in life - it’s been unnecessarily hard. But I think that while “aut-ish” is difficult, severe autism has an entirely different impact and we must protect these people: a “cure” would have a huge positive impact on so many, and in order to have a cure we first need to admit there is a disease. I have no problem being perceived as “queer” (after all, I’ve been “weird” or “odd” for 40 years, and synonyms can’t hurt that much).

I feel almost lucky - sure, life has sucked and I’ve missed out on so much, but I have a few things that really get my juices flowing and I feel bad for those who don’t. One of those things is currently in demand by society, and I am happy to take their money in exchange for software that came from my brain.

Edit: thanks for that link, I’d never heard that term and I like it.