just to be clear I'm not trying to say all autistic people share the exact same experience in life or anything like that. please don't interpret it that way. obviously two autistic persons can be just as different as two non-autistic ones. women are better at masking, men seem to be better at finding practical uses for it, external influences during childhood remain a huge factor in shaping personality, etc. I'm just saying there are some patterns in need of being noticed