u/CompetitionOk9570

I’m f17 and I believe I have a really high chance of having autism. I’m almost at the end of my school years, which I see as the only time an autism diagnosis would be helpful. I’m scared that if I get any sort of diagnosis that it would hinder me from being able to get a good job or get into a good university. People don’t want to hire autistic people and I’m at a point in life where I’m scared a diagnosis will just make things worse for me. I also don’t want to feel constantly babied or treated differently.

On the other hand, I do genuinely think I am autistic and I’ll get some clarity if I go and check. Maybe I’ll finally get a reason as to why I was bullied or why I’ve always felt out of place compared to everyone else, why I feel like I need to copy how people talk etc.

I was thinking of going to a therapist and asking them if im autistic, go a couple times so that they can understand my character and then hopefully I can just get like a “oh yeah high chance of autism” and then I can withdraw without a diagnosis. But it just sounds like a stupid plan.

Can someone with an autism diagnosis please let me know if life got easier or worse with a diagnosis. Were job opportunities hindered? Will I still have the future that I long for? What kind of clarity does something like this bring? Is it worth going through the trouble? Will it help me in my current stage of life or is it best to just wait until I retire and I have no more pressures?

I’m about to go to uni, I’m currently doing English literature and I’m struggling. My essays are out of 25 points. At the beginning of the year i consistently got 6-10 points on every essay I wrote, recently I’ve started doing a lot more essay practice but my highest is still only 15 points. Which is about a grade C. The university I want to get into needs an A (roughly 20-22 points).

When I write my essays it usually takes me a lot longer than I would like, often times a one hour essay will take me around 2 hours even when I time myself, I end up writing half but then finishing it in another colour. I always make sure to do a plan but I often find myself drifting away from my point when I write. I really struggle with writing with clarity and I have a really basic vocabulary, I read uni articles and essays to see how they write but I just can’t seem to replicate it.

My teachers say I have good ideas but to expand on them, I have no clue how to do this. I go into context, critics, writers life, outside references (like paintings or religious texts, not always tho just if it’s relevant). I’m missing something I just don’t know what.