A reminder that autism cannot be diagnosed in one therapy session or check up.
The gold standard for autism assessment, the ADOS, takes 30 minutes - and you need more than just the ADOS to diagnose autism. It takes several hours with multiple specialists on one team to diagnose one person with autism.
If you have a therapist that is telling you that you have autism after one session, or is telling you that you are autistic without doing an autism assessment - that is not a diagnosis. A therapist saying "have you looked into autism" is also not a diagnosis or being medically recognized, it is a suggestion. A therapist confirming your self diagnosis is not a professional diagnosis, it is an opinion.
Unless you have had the full assessment for autism and have had multiple specialists confirm your diagnosis, you are not diagnosed with autism. Medical recognization usually occurs when the full assessment proves that a diagnosis of autism is warranted but cannot be put on your file, usually for insurance or safety reasons. Being medically recognized does not include your therapist suggesting autism or agreeing with your self diagnosis.
Again...just because I see a lot of the misuse of the words "medically recognized"...someone agreeing with you is not being medically recognized, even if they have a medical degree. Being medically recognized is having the assessment and choosing to not disclose the result of that assessment, or in other rare circumstances without an assessment where multiple specialists (not just your therapist, psychiatrist, or GP) agree that you have autism but that an assessment is either unwarranted or unable to be attained. Medical recognization is essentially a provisional diagnosis.