It's funny how similar my experience was to yours even though I was growing up in the 90s, when there certainly was less stigma and more awareness of Autism, though it was still very limited and narrow. Since I was in gifted education and "smart", no one asked any questions about why I had also been placed in special education gym, remedial handwriting classes, and experienced some behavioral problems and social isolation.

And when those problems amplified in middle and high school, my parents outright refused to enroll me in therapy -- they were so certain it would ruin my prospects of getting into a good college and having a good life if anybody knew there was anything "wrong" with me.

And of course, the kids who did get diagnosed back then didn't necessarily fair much better, since the main 'treatment' for Autism at the time was basically just conditioning kids to fake neurotypicality and compliance as much as they could. ... progress has been infuriatingly slow. I'm glad that now at least, self-knowledge and finding community with other disabled people is at least possible, and many therapists can be empathetic and accepting, though of course many Autistic kids and adults alike still have a pretty hard time. Being incomprehensible is so hard -- to be both gay and Autistic in a world that erased the existence of either, growing up in the 70s, must have been so crazy making.