Should I come clean to students?

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big N-O.

The approach I'm taking is one of autism awareness by becoming more involved with autism. If even just here on WP. But I'd like to start doing volunteer work and other stuff for the autism community. I'm planning on wearing an autism puzzle ribbon lapel pin all the time.

When someone is into something and they want people to know about it, people can tell what it is just by the way they advertise it. Like someone wearing a NASCAR hat, or what someone's favorite sports team is, or if they're religious etc.

So I'm going to make it known that I'm into autism. The pin, an autism t-shirt here and there, maybe an autism cap. And of course talk about autism, the way people talk about their interests. If you were into something like say fly fishing, it wouldn't be too hard to let your students in on it. Maybe by just occasionally wearing a fly fishing vest or leaving a couple of fly fishing magazines on your desk or whatever.

So rather than just blurting to people that I have autism, I'm going to make it obvious that I'm interested / involved with autism, that I'm an advocate for autism and I think the fact that I myself have autism, will become known in the process in a more subtle, yet blatant way. I'm expecting people to tell me about some relative or relative of a friend or whatever who has autism so there will be a common ground of sorts along those lines.

Welcome to WP. Hope you find it useful here.

Technically you couldn't do it for the reason you are not yet diagnosed.

Someone's neurological wiring is not the business of their students anyway.

One thing that perplexes me (and don't worry you are far from being the first teacher I have noticed this in) is that as a teacher, your spelling leaves something to do desired. ('collage' instead of college for instance). Sorry, it's a bugbear of mine.

I am also self-diagnosed and a teacher (Criminology and Criminal Justice). Difference is, I teach online, so any "oddities" are less noticeable. I make myself available for arranged "office hours", but a student's actually requesting a meeting has been quite rare.

With that being said: I do not discuss anything personal at all, let alone having a condition like AS. The department chair even advised me to not discuss my personal life with students as a matter of course (about anything) when I first began teaching.

A couple of my professors (now colleagues) actually guessed at it with me, and they're fine with it, but I don't talk about it that much--it's not relevant to how I do my job.

Unless you think there is a compelling reason to do so (and I honestly don't know what that would be), I would suggest that you do not bring it up. If any "problems" arise, something like paris75007's suggestion might make sense: deal with the small "issues" on their own, one at a time.

And yes, welcome to WP.

No, as a student I would respect you but my peers on the other would not.