Diagnosis or no diagnosis

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So I recently went to an adult autism specialist. She said that she thinks I have autism and that I can still go to her about my issues even without getting a diagnosis. I am just wondering if it is ok or not to tell people I have autism without the formal diagnosis? She believes I have it and would be diagnosed if I went. But it's so expensive.

Some people will be more accepting, others will not. I don't know where you live but if you want to get any kind of legal/official benefits you'll need a full diagnosis.

I think many in this community will accept you without a full diagnosis, especially if a specialist said you likely have it.

My expirience is, people react best if you don't tell them of autism but inform them of your particular issues. Examples:
- Noise and bright lights are painful for me;
- I may take literally what you say, did you mean exactly this?
- I don't feel comfortable around large groups of people;
- I'm doing my best but a role of the hostess is not really what I feel.
etc.

People often freak out after hearing the word "autism", it's likely all they know is some Autism $peaks propaganda of a monstrous disease. They have no idea what the spectrum really is, so they are likely to be even less understanding.
Thus, even with official diagnosis it is often wise not to disclose it to others.

Thank you both. I was mainly referring to the autism community. I don't plan on telling NT people unless they are close to me or I know them well enough they won't judge/assume anything.

Personally I would encourage the phrase, "I think I have autism" or "I'm self-diagnosed" just for transparency's sake. You will receive support here regardless of your diagnostic status, but others' knowing whether or not you have the label on paper will allow them to help you better, since they'll know to tailor their advice to the sorts of things you'd have access to as an undiagnosed person, rather than services you're presently unqualified to receive.

I also recommend self-diagnosis as a stepping stone to professional diagnosis whenever possible, since I personally don't see the point of claiming a label which does nothing for you unless it's written on paper. Just my two cents.

Before I was diagnosed it was very important to me not to purport to be autistic. I don't think it's right to do that. I agree with everything StarTrekker said in that regard.

The problem with an "autism diagnosis" is nobody knows what that really means.

If someone with autism has a weakness in a particular area and you look hard enough, someone else here doesn't have that problem!