It runs in my family on both sides, plus my therapist suspects also. And for years I was overthinking social skills and forced myself to be out there because of a fear of being judged for being different. Maybe that’s why I felt alone and I should truly do what I am good at and enjoy too. Thoughts? Any of you had similar experiences?

I may be a touch of this

Probably comes with my mild autism along with I must confess with bit of anger reaction dealing with my method versus other peoples' method

It is a lifelong dealing with my issues since childhood years.

I think that a very very significantly higher number of people here are neurodivergent (specifically on the autism spectrum) than on, for instance, gamer, sports car, travel, music, movie and gardening forums and discord groups. Similar with train and other public transport enthousiasts.

I have not been diagnosed but i am very likely to also be on the autism spectrum.

I am not saying this is the case for anyone here but brains can convince themselves of very crazy nonsensical things. Having special interests is definitely a sign, and I'd venture to say that many people here have a special interest (lighting that is). Of course all the social stuff as well but not everyone here has those.

So yeah I do agree that probably 50% or more here are neurodivergent (a wild guess), but maybe many people think they are neurotypical despite signs pointing otherwise. I've certainly convinced myself of much more significant things with overwhelming opposing evidence. I would argue that whether or not you are under the technical category of neurodivergence is decreasingly important after you leave school, especially if it is support level 1. I also hear it's harder to diagnose in adults though I don't know if that's true or not.

I have not had a similar experience as I was diagnosed before I can even remember, so the question in my mind was never there. I think the diagnosis benefitted me, though opinions seem to vary as to whether a diagnosis is actually helpful or not.