I have autism

This is really dumb, but I have high functioning Autism, have done my whole life, but I wasn't diagnosed until I was 12. I used to call it Aspergers, but the guy who it was named after was a Nazi, so if my Jewish Nan found out about that, I don't think she'd be impressed!! Anyway, it's been a few years now and I'm pretty sure I should tell my friends about it, because theres been a few times now when I haven't got their sarcasm, or I've been a bit over the top, a sore loser, just small things like that really, so I feel if I were to tell them they'd not get so annoyed with me. Buttttt everyone in my school uses autism as an insult. Like "You're well autistic" and stuff like that, so I don't know if they'd accept it. I came out as gay to them so easily, so I don't know why I'm so worried about telling them I am actually autistic. Help?

I’m autistic and this is a difficult problem for many autistic people, particularly with the stigma around autism/it being used as an insult. I didn’t find out until I was older, so don’t have experience of telling people when I was school age. I had a very supportive group of friends, so I would’ve probably told them, but not definitely. I think finding one friend who you can trust to discuss this with may be the way to go- they’ll have a better social gauge of the situation.

I’m open about being autistic at work, though I have my struggles. In practice, telling people you are autistic is awkward, partly because a lot of people who are autistic find conversation awkward, but also because a lot of people don’t know what you want to do with the information. Consequently, I find telling them and clarifying why I am telling them really useful.

If I was going to tell my friends in high school I probably would’ve gone with something like: “Look guys, I don’t want to make a massive deal out of this and I’m telling you all because I trust you- I’m autistic. [Insert examples of your challenges here and explain how they are a problem.]” Then just finish with something about being the same person, but just that you have these particular struggles and would appreciate help when you need it.

Thank you so much, I’m planning on telling my close friend and see what his reaction is, hopefully he’ll be alright with it.. if not then I guess I’ll have to find a better friend, what’s the worse that could happen?