Most of my family know I have ASD because I was diagnosed in childhood so I suppose it got around the family at the time. But they're used to me the way I am and they don't see me as anyone but Joe.
But nobody else knows because I haven't told anyone who wasn't in my life when I was a kid. I just come across to others as a quirky, anxious, hyper person but it doesn't make it obvious to anyone that I have ASD, even if they are ASD themselves! True story. I have a friend who has ASD and she asked me if I have any disabilities. I didn't want to say about ASD, so I said, "I have ADHD." She said that her brother has ADHD and that I'm rather similar to him. So if another Aspie can't guess that I have ASD then NTs definitely can't.
As I have never said to anybody before that I have ASD, I can't picture what their reaction would be. Most likely they probably won't make a big deal out of it, but because I feel so embarrassed about it, I feel like it's just something I'd rather sweep under the rug.
Although autism is more known about these days, it's still got the stigma and the stereotypes and the phobics. Maybe one day society will be forced to accept people with autism just like we are forced to accept homosexuality or different racial backgrounds. These days it is basically a crime not to accept those, so I am waiting for the day to come where it's not PC to be afraid of autism.
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