Traumatising experience of the diagnostic assessment

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Yeah, I've read a lot about Baron Cohen's diagnostic tests - they are very much aligned with male presentation of symptoms. I have to say I'm quite fond of the intense world theory. That works for me...Also, I read that that there is a link between hypermobility syndrome and autism recently. I was diagnosed with the former a few months back and there appears to be little awareness that it's a multi-system phenotype. People just think "oh, so you're double jointed/a bit bendy...so what?!" But it's based on collagen variant and collagen is found not only in joints but in the cornea, bones, dentin, gut etc. This led me to wondering whether there is a collagen/protein variant in the brain that is causing hyper-plasticity/reactivity in certain regions- meaning frequent overwhelm/high sensitivity/more processing etc. I read research that the hippocampus produces collagen V1 which lubricates neurons in order to protect them from amyloid toxicity (the build up of which causes neurogenerative diseases). I wondered if in autism the neurons are being lubricated with a collagen that aids that but also causes them to be a bit wild, a bit more flexible...

Im in the UK i. Getting tested soon. I. Really worrying about the test after readi g this :0(

I think this fits with B.3 in the ASD diagnostic criteria, specifically, "excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests."

People tend to focus on the "excessively circumscribed" part but "excessively perseverative" part is just as much a criterion for the diagnosis.

My interests are somewhat broad, like yours, but the way that I go on multi-year binges of researching them with obsessive hyperfocus is not. My understanding is that this is not at all unusual in people with ASDs, though there is a lot of variation in this, which is why the diagnostic criteria were written in a way that acknowledges both the perseverative and circumscribed aspects.