Received my diagnosis as a 30 y/o male

I'm a 30 year old male. I'm fairly successful and work as a professor in a University. For years, I've suspected that I am autistic, and this instinct became stronger as I began working with more neurodiverse students and as I began to dive into research on pedagogical approaches to working with neurodiverse students. I finally took the plunge and went in for evaluation, and was diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (Level 1).

For my whole life, I've struggled with things that neurotypical people don't seem to worry about. Because of this, I've battled depression and anxiety. I've thought I was useless, incompetent, and incapable of human connection and empathy.

I don't have the words to express what a relief it is to have this diagnosis - to know the underlying cause of all the things that I've tried to work on, but at which I never seem to improve. While I don't yet exactly know where things go from here, I know the general direction for getting help instead of wandering aimlessly from counselor to counselor.

I know that there are plenty of these posts on here all the time, but I've lurked on this sub for a while, and this has been a really encouraging space for me to learn more about myself and was one of the catalysts in my seeking out evaluation. Thank you for being here.