Fun fact- when I was a baby, my parents pretty quickly started suspecting I had autism. Like, before I even hit the year mark. They got me assessed four different times. the first one was when I was a baby, and they're pretty sure the only reason their concerns were brushed off is because I was a girl, and most people thought girls couldn't be autistic. Two times were when I was a toddler, after I was talking and walking, because they noticed I was happier to sort my toys than actually play with them. Both times, that doctor (different doctor from the first) firmly decided I couldn't possibly be autistic because- get this- I started talking early. And the fourth one was when I was getting ready to start preschool, because they were really like "Okay, there's no way she isn't, the doctors must have been wrong." And again, they were told I wasn't autistic because if I was, they would know already. Since I wasn't already diagnosed, I clearly wasn't autistic. It must just be from my brain injury
I am level two autistic. I am visibly autistic and always have been. And I still got misdiagnosed as not autistic four times for complete nonsense reasons.
So no, I don't think not being professionally diagnosed means one isn't autistic.
