January 2023: two years ago and the period in which I received the official diagnosis of autism. The stresses that led to the referral, assessment, evaluation and diagnosis (a ten month journey in the Dutch health care system that involved nearly a dozen experts on autism) were because of a family based trauma that was making me physically ill. During this time when I was feeling quite poorly and at the doctor’s office, I also mentioned I had a suspicion that I might be autistic and laid that card on the table. (Disclaimer, autism is not a mental illness and I have never been diagnosed as being mentally ill nor have I ever in my life been referred for evaluation in conjunction to mental illness.…