hi, um, not sure if it's rude to jump into the conversation. but i just want to say that most autistic self-advocates are very much pro self-diagnosis. one reason for this is that afab people and people of color are vastly underdiagnosed and the medical criteria for diagnosis skew very white and cismale.

the autistic self-advocacy network even lists self-diagnosed autistic folk in their definition of autism (https://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/about-autism/).

lots of people start with a self-diagnosis then seek out an official medical diagnosis (which might come with its own risks and hang-ups).

it's also fine to start walking down that road and then go a different direction, i know some folks who figured out they have ADHD that way, for instance.

i don't mean to pressure anyone, but learning all that was very helpful for me so that's why i'm sharing it.