The thought has always crossed my mind, in retrospect. Academically I was a good student, but struggled in math and sciences. Socially, I was the shy one in my friend group. I always have that one friend who brought me out of my shell.

When I reconnected with classmates on Facebook around 2008-2012, I found out a handful of us have a child on the spectrum. We all grew up in the same neighborhood or within a mile radius.

I'm with you on this.

Yes. In researching their diagnoses, I now self-diagnose as ASD. My life suddenly made sense with all the difficulties I didn't understand before. I can see it now in others too. There are stereotypes we've seen and we think "oh to be Autistic you have to behave like xyz", but I have discovered it is a spectrum and many things are impacted. It, of course, doesn't mean someone is not smart, capable, or successful. It is neurodiversity. It can be a gift in the way that brilliance can come from a different way of processing.

It's very possible! Autism runs in families. I seem to be the "odd one out" in my family, however, autistic parents often have autistic kids :)