Am I autistic????

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Every now and again I come back around wondering if I'm autistic. If I am it is certainly very mild. I have rarely had trouble making friends although everyone made sure to make me aware of how weird and quirky I was back in elementary school. I wonder if over time I've just learned how to filter myself and act more like a neurotypical. Even now writing this on a site based around autism, I feel like my speech is far different from how it is with normal people. I keep asking myself if there is any reason to consider getting diagnosed and if they would even be able to give an accurate diagnosis due to how I've probably learned how to act like an NT. I'm just confused I'd like an answer but I don't know if I'll ever get one. It would be a convenient explanation for many of the problems I've had throughout my life. I also suspect my dad might be similar to me because he definitely has autistic quirks to him. What got me thinking about this is because I heard that my teachers from back in those early elementary school days said that they suspected that I had autism to my parents. I'm almost 18, by the way, will turn in a couple of months.
Anyway thanks for reading my rambling

To be sure, I've learned to behave more NT than not as I've gotten older. I had actually been diagnosed later in life by a psychologist who asked me about what I had been like as a child, and how others had reacted to me.

Since this is something you need to know you should get an assessment to find out if you are Autistic or have other issues or both. At you age insurance should cover the cost.

There isn't a simple test so this is something you want insurance to cover.

I can certainly relate very strongly to the sentence, " It would be a convenient explanation for many of the problems I've had throughout my life." Although I am 58 and untested, I feel I would at least have some closure if I received a diagnosis. There have been enough people lately telling me they thought I was, or at least felt I was eccentric, that I am convinced I am on the spectrum. That would explain being targeted for so much of the abuse I got. Get tested if you can. If you really are, you need to know as it could otherwise put you at a huge disadvantage.

If, for whatever reason, your insurance does NOT cover it, see if you can find a place where psychology grad student "externs" work under the supervision of a fully credentialed psychotherapist. This costs much less, by at least a factor of 10.

What specifically makes you suspect autism? What do you mean when you say you were described as “weird and quirky” or that your speech is different from normal people’s?